The Fear You Won't Fall
by WellDoneBeca
Summary: George Weasley had no problem with crushes. Really, he was confident enough when he had a crush and always acted on them, but as much as he considered himself somehow nice with women, Cassiopeia… Well, Cassiopeia was definitely a completely different territory. (To read the continuation, read "Home")
1. I

George Weasley had no problem with crushes. Really, he was confident enough when he had a crush and always acted on them, but as much as he considered himself somewhat good with women, Cassiopeia was a completely different territory.

She was a Malfoy, Lucius' oldest daughter.

The first time he'd noticed her was in their sorting ceremony along with other first-years. He didn't know her name or family before then. She, however, had her chin up the moment she'd sat down to be selected, and had a very large smile on her face when the sorting hat pointed her right into Slytherin.

After learning who she was he didn't need to exchange one word with the girl to know that she was just another spoiled Malfoy – just like her brother – who thought of herself as superior to anyone who wasn't pure of blood and judged and hated his family.

But there was a thing… Cassiopeia was never like Draco brother to him or anyone in his family.

She didn't talk down to any of them. When in class with him and Fred, she was even gentle and polite with them, and he'd caught her smiling at him not only once or twice, but five times since last Christmas. And she had a beautiful smile. Somehow, the same features that made Malfoy look weird, gave her an interesting look. One day, in the middle of winter, she'd fallen on her butt onto snow and he'd frozen in his spot right at the moment. From afar, he could see the way her white-blonde hair perfectly framed her thin face. He couldn't help but watch her gray eyes glimmering joyfully before shooting a snowball in a random direction. She just was too pretty to be a Malfoy.

So, maybe he liked her a tiny bit more than he was really supposed to.

Or… A lot more.

It didn't matter, though. They were two people from very different words and would never even be friends, much less anything else.

The first time she had seen George Weasley and not looked past him was at the 422nd Quidditch World Cup on her way to watch the game between the Irish and the Bulgarian teams.

Of course, Cassiopeia knew the Weasleys were there to watch the game and didn't care in the least, but that was the first time she'd paid any attention to any of them, specifically George.

She was walking up to the Luxury Box to meet her brother and parents when she slipped on the stairs and fell on someone's arms.

Her grey eyes had closed shut in response to the future impact, and when she opened them, the girl absolutely froze. Shiny brown irises were staring right into hers and long strands of red hair were brushing against the skin of her forehead.

He needed a haircut, that was a fact.

"Well," she let out in a breath, swallowing down saliva. "Hello."

"Cassiopeia!" she heard Draco's voice, and her head practically snapped in the direction, finding her brother staring at the two of them from a few stores above. He didn't say anything else, just stared and waited while she recomposed herself.

"Thank you," the blonde girl nodded discreetly, putting back her usual cold facade before walking away, and George was left behind with a smile on his face.

When she reached her brother, he appeared profoundly confused bothered.

"What were you doing with that Weasley?"

"I slipped, he kept me from falling," she said as it was obvious. "I thanked him and left."

"Why?" he frowned. "He's just another Weasley. Which one is that one, anyway?"

She didn't know. She knew he was one of the twins, Fred and George. The two of them were in the same year as her and sat behind her in some classes. They weren't exactly silent or quiet.

"Even though you'd lost yours, I still have my manners," she reminded her younger brother. "And I don't know which Weasley he is. There's too many of them to count. Now, can we just go or do you have anything else to ask?"

He just offered her an arm, and Cassiopeia accepted silently, walking up with him.

"Sit down," Narcissa pointed as soon as she caught a glimpse of the two. "The game is about to start."


	2. II

"Mother didn't want to have Cassiopeia too far from home," Draco explained on the cabin right across hers. "And father decided not to have us apart when it was my time to go to school as well."

The Malfoy siblings always sat across each other since Draco had joined Hogwarts. There was something comforting in having each other the closest way possible while being so far from the other half of their family.

"Is the true?" Eleanor questioned, turning to her curiously.

"Yes," she confirmed. "Durmstrang had a good program. They teach the Dark Arts, not just defence against it. Father thought it would be a good choice but mother intervened."

Cassiopeia stood up before any other subject was brought up. She was tired, and would rather stay in silence for a bit and maybe sleep while she could.

"I'll go change," she let them know. "I'll be back soon."

Minutes later, she was fixing her hair in the mirror, trying to make it fall a certain way, before eventually giving up. The blonde-white locks insisted on curling to a direction opposite to what she had tried to put them on.

She had just closed the door and stepped forward when the train made a turn that sent the girl in a wrong direction and, once again, a pair of arms caught her before she could fall on the floor or on someone else.

"I'm starting to think you do that on purpose."

Cassiopeia froze and her grey eyes opened quickly, widening instantly.

"Beg your pardon?!"

"Well, you're always throwing yourself into my arms every time we see one another."

Weasley was staring just above her, and he was probably the same one that had held her when she slipped during the cup. On his face, he held a smug smile that, honestly, made Cassiopeia want to punch him.

Quickly, she pulled herself from his grip, straightening her clothes and putting on an angry face just as her pale cheeks reddened furiously in embarrassment.

"I'm… You… I…" she stuttered.

"You know, I'm starting to think you fancy me, Malfoy."

She almost slapped him.

"Me? Fancying you, Weasley? Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror? What an absurd…!" the young Malfoy said, forcefully keeping her voice down. "You could be the last man in Hogwarts and I wouldn't even glance at you. I don't know what you're thinking but I'm not desperate."

"Cassiopeia," she heard behind her and turned her head to find Draco right behind her. "What's going on?"

"Weasley is being absurd as always!" she accused.

Draco put a protective hand on her arm, ready to pull his sister to stand in front of her.

"Who do you think you are to even say a word to her, Weasel?" he said, almost ready to spit on Weasley's face. "Don't you…"

But Cassiopeia just squeezed her brother's hand carefully before he continued, not wanting to make a scene.

"Come on," she pulled him carefully. "He doesn't deserve our attention, Draco."

Before anyone could say anything else, she walked her away, back to their cabins.

"Stupid Weasley," he muttered under his breath. "Thinking he can come around and dare to…"

"Let that go, Draco," she interrupted him. "Thank you for trying to help me but I can deal with my own problems, okay?"

He glanced at her, entering his cabin with his friends as she sat down and crossed her legs, earning a glance from Eleanor.

"What happened?" she enquired.

"Nothing," she moved her eyes to the window.

It wasn't worth talking about.


	3. III

Cassiopeia tried to ignore the pair of eyes almost glued to neck as she stood behind Snape in line silently, seeing how McGonagall yelled and yelled at Gryffindors for pushing each other and other things that sounded very stupid.

She waited silently, trying to see where the two schools – Durmstrang and Beauxbatons - would appear from, feeling both nervous and excited. As much as she kept a straight facade, she wanted to know who they were, meet people out of Hogwarts' gates and discover what the tournament was all about.

The girl jumped back when a large carriage landed in front of the 1st years, causing everyone to step back, and could see a coat of arms with two crossed golden wands and six stars on the door before someone opened it and a boy came out, offering his hand to a very, very tall woman. She was just as tall as Hagrid.

Just as Dumbledore started clapping, all of the other students did the same just as he welcomed her.

Her students just glanced at all the group before leaving, and she heard a low noise coming from the darkness just before someone yelled about the lake, seconds before a mast appeared in the lake.

Soon, a ship rose out of the water, looking almost ghostly. Minutes later, after anchoring, everyone could see people leaving the ship and their silhouettes became more visible, each very bulky. Cassiopeia didn't take more than one second to recognise the man in front of the group.

Igor Karkaroff. The headmaster of Durmstrang and…

Viktor Krum?

* * *

The students of Durmstrang sat at the Slytherin table and Viktor was just beside Draco, who eagerly leant in his direction.

"Viktor Krum!" he smiled, offering him a hand to shake. "I'm Draco. Draco Malfoy."

When Krum shook his hand, her younger brother was quick to introduce the two.

"That's my sister Cassiopeia," he pointed. "She is the 6th year, she is 16. She can speak Bulgarian and Romanian if you need any help."

Krum took your hand politely.

"Приятно ми е да се запознаем, Cassiopeia," he said in Bulgarian, kissing her knuckles politely.

(It's a pleasure to meet you.)

Cassiopeia smiled back at him.

"Удоволствието е изцяло мое."

(The pleasure is all mine)

Draco was only half right. She was okay in Bulgarian and had a very poor Romanian. If he'd tried to talk to her in it, she'd be completely humiliated.

She ate modestly, seeing at the corner of her eyes as Weasley – the one in Draco's year – devoured his food like an animal. It had gotten her slightly sick, and she'd ended up giving up before her stomach was even close to full.

"The moment has come," Dumbledore stood up, smiling at everyone's direction. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket..."

He continued to talk, introducing Mr Crouch and Mr Ludo Bagman, both of them very important for the tournament, as planners and judges.

Filch approached Dumbledore when called, placing a large wooden chest in front of the headmaster. It was a Goblet, later enchanted, that would sort names put in there. An age line would be put to prevent students younger than 17 from entering the tournament.

"Do you think Potter will try to enter the Tournament?" Draco questioned, walking by Cassiopeia's side to the common room.

"He won't even manage to," she turned to him, almost scolding him for thinking such a thing could happen. "The Goblet in enchanted," she reminded him. "You're not thinking of trying, are you?"

Draco's eyes widened.

"No. Never."

Cassiopeia only nodded.

"Good."


	4. IV

Potter had tried to participate, and even more than that, he had been selected as the 4th participant of the Triwizard tournament. It was honestly absurd, and the whole school knew that. Regardless, he was accepted and was now competing along with Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff, Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, and Viktor Krum.

The news had set the trio apart, honestly. Potter and his Weasley weren't even looking at one another, and Granger was just bouncing back and forth between them as far as Cassiopeia had heard around in school.

He was probably gonna die, anyway. He wouldn't survive the tournament. Better equipped people had died.

She was nervous when reaching the arena to watch the first task. She wasn't going to sit with the Slytherins, no. She and Draco had been invited by Aleksandar, one Durmstrang student that had ended up close to her. He'd invited the two to sit with him in a very good seat.

"Dragons!" he exclaimed, excited.

It was terrifying. Cassiopeia didn't understand how some people could just keep staring and, involuntarily ended up curling around Aleksandar more times that she'd ever intended, almost crushing Draco's hand on her opposite side. Each time she heard a whistle or an announcement, her first thought was asking whether the champion was dead on alive.

When it was over, the girl felt relieved. Maybe there was a way of escaping the next task? She didn't need to watch it all, did she?

"I'm not a Gryffindor," she muttered, a bit embarrassed when Draco joked about his sister not looking at the most important moments. "I don't need to pretend to be brave enough to watch all of that."

Aleksandar chuckled and took her smaller hand into his, squeezing it slightly.

"You don't have to be brave," he said slowly, working over his accent. "Your beauty is enough to compensate."

Cassiopeia frowned for a moment, releasing his hand and looking at him and trying hard to decipher if that had been an actual compliment or not, but it appeared to have passed right over her brother's head, as Draco quickly changed the subject.

Just a few metres away, George felt Fred's elbow hitting him on the ribs.

"You're staring."

And he was. The whole time during the task his eyes had fallen on Cassiopeia even without him wanting. And there she was, every time she got scared she had turned to the 7th year from Durmstrang, and he'd smile as he'd just got a prize and not a beautiful girl by his side. He didn't even try to comfort her, and her stupid brother was too focused on the champions to realise she was distressed.

Two arseholes.

"He isn't even paying the right attention to her, come on," he complained to his twin. "Look. He probably said some bullshit! She looked way too annoyed for him to have said something good or even okay!"

Fred turned to him, completely confused.

"And why do you care? It's Malfoy. Girl Malfoy, but still Malfoy!" he crossed his arms. "You've been like that since the cup."

And Fred was right.

Of course, they both knew Cassiopeia since they got into school. He'd known what he needed to know about her. She was beautiful, a bit above average when it came to being smart, very witty, and ambitious. She never started something she didn't plan to finish and knew how to manipulate things to make them better for herself - it was admirable. Oh, and she hated when Draco pulled a 'my father will know about this' because she was all about solving her own problems and him doing the same.

Look, she is not that bad, okay?" he affirmed. "I mean… Not every Slytherin is bad. I think."

Fred was surprised.

"So… What? Do you have a crush on her or something? "

George shifted uncomfortably.

"Pff," he rolled his eyes. "Of course not. That's crazy."


	5. V

(TW: Sexual assault. Nothing graphic, just a tiny bit of damsel in distress situation)

When the Yule Ball was announced, the two Malfoys were the ones to show the other Slytherins how to properly dance.

The wintery night was beautiful, and she'd put on the dress robes Narcissa had carefully gotten her. It was all in silver with dark green velvet details and small crystals that were just as well placed on her white-blonde hair, she also had tiny diamonds as earrings and a larger diamond as a ring on her ring finger.

Draco's clothes were dark and elegant. His dress robes were black in velvet, with a high collar, and contrasted with his skin.

"You look like a queen," he affirmed, smiling at his sister.

By his side, Crabbe and Goyle were just staring at her with their mouths gaping open.

"Let's go?" she questioned.

The moment they left the Slytherin common room, Aleksandar was already waiting for them, and his eyes roamed Cassiopeia from toe to forehead.

"Very beautiful."

She smiled at him and took his arm to walk to the great hall.

The Champions were the first to enter and dance. Diggory had taken Cho Chang – a 5th year Ravenclaw – as his partner, and Fleur Delacour followed his example bringing a boy from the same house. She couldn't remember his name, though, and wouldn't waste her time trying to. Potter was with one of the Patil twins – they were from Draco's year and different houses – but what surprised her the most was Viktor Krum's partner. He'd taken none other than Hermione Granger with him and, without the school uniform and some effort, she actually looked like a decent human being. She was even… pretty.

Dinner was delicious. Aleksandar led the conversation most of the time, however, and Cassiopeia couldn't help but feel annoyed and bored. He didn't have the least bit of interest on what she had to say and often interrupted her to correct things that didn't need to be corrected or add comments that weren't very welcome.

Honestly, she was starting to think he only wanted a pretty girl by his side to show off.

When it was time to dance, Aleksandar lead her through the ballroom as soon as the first pair joined the champions, swinging Cassiopeia elegantly and always looking into her eyes. His coat was fluffy and soft under her delicate fingertips, and his hand very rough – a strong contrast for her. He had amazing coordination and skills and only left her side when Draco asked his sister for a dance.

Everyone was still in the ballroom when he squeezed her hand tightly and pulled her out of the crowd, leaning down until his lips found her ear.

"Vhy don't you show me Hogvards'?" he said, just loud enough for her to hear.

That's how she ended up walking out of the great hall and walking through the corridors, showing him some spots she could remember from scratch. Cassiopeia tried to find spots that could be interesting while keeping close enough to where she knew people were nearby. Something about being completely alone with Aleksandar gave her all of the bad chills.

They were in the rose garden when she walked a few steps away from him to touch the flowers and felt his hand wrapping around her wrist and pulling her. In a second, she was pressed against a tree with his lips right against her and eyes completely wide in shock.

"What are you doing?" she tried to exclaim against his lips, pushing his large and broad body away from hers.

Aleksandar gave the girl a smirk, still pressing her against the tree.

"You don't haff' to play hard to get," he moved his hands to her waist.

"I'm not playing hard to get," Cassiopeia tried to push his hands away. "I don't… Take your fucking hands off of me. Let me go!"

He frowned deeply, seeming both confused and angry.

"I spent time with you," he pointed. "I gave you a seat in the task, took you to the ball and danced with you! You owe me."

He pressed his lips against hers again, his time using one of his hands to pin both of hers away from him by holding her two wrists tightly. Cassiopeia struggled in his grip and tried to scream.

Aleksandar's free hand moved to her carefully styled hair to keep her head from moving, and the grip was so strong it made the girl's whole scalp hurt.

The moment his mouth left hers, she let out the loudest shrink she could before his palm landed roughly over her lips.

Cassiopeia cursed herself for not bringing her wand with her to the ball, which now left her completely defenceless but, apparently, someone had heard her over the music.

"I believe the damsel said you should let her go," Weasley said loudly behind them, holding his wand high. "Now let her go."

"Go mind your own business," Aleksandar spit.

But Weasley wasn't impressed.

"Don't make me hex you."

Cassiopeia used the distraction to get out of his grip. A good portion of the crystals in her locks fell during her release, but the Malfoy couldn't care less. She only had time to get behind Weasley before Professor Snape and Karkaroff emerged from the shadows in their aid.

"What is going on here?" the head of Slytherin questioned, putting himself almost between his students and the foreign student.

"Malfoy was screaming for help, I just came to help," Weasley quickly pointed. "He was… Trying to do stuff without her wanting."

Everyone's eyes fell on her, and Cassiopeia could only imagine how terrible she looked. Her hair was a complete mess, she certainly had some bruise where he'd just roughly pushed her, and her face wasn't the best thing to look at right now.

"Miss Malfoy," Snape turned to her. "Is that true?"

She nodded quickly, trying to maintain her dignity.

"Yes, sir. Weasley just came to help."

"What happened?" he questioned, his face completely frozen, and the girl glanced at Aleksandar, standing beside Karkaroff.

When the professor noticed her hesitation, he pointed in a direction and motioned for her to walk with him a bit far away, where the young Malfoy narrated in whispers and details what had just happened to her, and showed him how her pale wrists were already red and bruised from the grip put around them. When she was finished, he let her go saying he wanted to see her in his office the next day. Weasley followed Cassiopeia quickly, leaving the two adults behind with Aleksandar.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sounding worried. "Did he hurt you? Do you need to me call your brother or something?"

Oh, yes. Draco was still in the ball.

She shook her head, and one or two crystals fell on the floor.

"I'll be fine," she decided. "You can go back to the ball, I'll just go to bed. Thank you."

But he didn't walk away, and just stopped in front of her.

"Can I at least take you there?" he offered. "You know… I want to make sure you get there safely."

Cassiopeia paused, glancing at him. He was being too nice, but she knew Weasley wouldn't do anything to her. He was too nice.

"Okay."

They walked there in silence within a safe distance from each other and, when they were close enough to the Slytherin common room, Cassiopeia turned to him.

"That's where you should leave," she told him. "It's a secret entrance."

Weasley gave her an awkward smile.

"Of course. So… Good night."

"Good night."

He turned away and she did the same but stopped in her tracks when something popped into her head.

"Hey," Cassiopeia called and he stopped to look at her quickly. "What is your name?"

"George," he smiled. "George Weasley, pleased to meet you."

The blonde girl smiled softly.

"Thank you for helping me, George Weasley."


	6. VI

Cassiopeia woke up at the break of the dawn, writing a letter to Narcissa to tell her what had happened and how a boy – who she'd been careful not to name – had saved her from Aleksandar. Lucius would probably take care of him, and the girl put her attention carefully on asking her mother to send something for her to give to the boy. Some cakes and sweets, nothing too elaborate or everyone would know she was the one gifting them to him.

When she visited Professor Snape, he assured the young Malfoy lady that Aleksandar would be sent back to Durmstrang in less than a couple of hours and dealt with. When breakfast time came, she received an owl back from her mother with a package and a worried letter that she reminded herself to respond to later. Draco had also gotten a letter, his one much longer than his sister's. He simply closed it and saved it for a later reading.

When Cassiopeia finished eating, feeling some heavy eyes from the Durmstrang students all over her skin, she walked to her dorm to write down a letter and set up George Weasley's gift. She quickly sent it with an owl and ran back to where he was to try and see his reaction.

"What's up with him?" Ron elbowed Fred on his ribs, pointing to George with a confused face.

Their brother had his head in the clouds since the previous night. He had said something about helping a girl out after the ball but didn't mention her name or whether she was from Hogwarts or just a visitor from one of the foreign schools. He also didn't say what he had done to help her, but if it was that fixed on his mind, it probably was something quite meaningful.

The Weasleys all became silent as a large owl entered and dropped a large box right in front of George, missing his hand for mere centimetres.

Cassiopeia was just far enough away to watch as everyone turned to see what had happened. Weasley's brothers and sister were the ones the widest eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of anything while he opened the package.

George was completely surprised while he pulled the things from inside the box. A 'Broomstick Servicing Kit', a new pair of gloves that looked like they were worth more than a whole outfit his parents could get him, and lots of sweets. Several boxes of Every Flavour Beans, pudding, many chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, and so many other things he'd never be able to eat it all anytime soon. It was like a candy shop just for himself.

"What's all that?" Ron exclaimed. "Did the owl give it to the wrong person? This can't possibly be for you."

He picked a small note just as his brother spoke. It was too much, his mother wouldn't send him all that. His parents couldn't even afford that. This had to be a mistake.

But it wasn't.

' Thank you for being my hero, George Weasley.'

He didn't even realise he had the stupidest smile on his face when he realised where that'd come from. Honestly, he couldn't keep you out of his mind since the moment he left you in the dungeons. He hadn't even slept thinking if you were okay.

"Well?" Ron insisted. "Who's it for?"

George raised his eyes to him, surprised for a moment.

"Oh. It's for me," he shook the note slightly and folded it before hiding it away from the others. "It's… Uh… It's from..."

"His Damsel in Distress," Fred added. "George played hero yesterday. That's his thanks letter."

George felt his ears reddening and Ginny giggled. Everyone seemed very surprised by the revelation.

"What's her name?" she questioned. "Is she from Hogwarts? Do we know her?"

But he didn't respond, just putting his thing back into the box.

"I'm not talking about her," he finally affirmed. "It's nothing, okay. I just helped and she is thanking me."

They exchanged looks, but no one said anything else. Fred was the only one who knew anything about Cassiopeia Malfoy and her impact on his life.

Silently, George made a note to himself to ask Molly for something for Cassiopeia before school came back to its usual routine. Nothing like a sweater, she would never wear anything like that.

Maybe a green or grey scarf. Maybe she'd wear something like that.

Yes… He'd just need to tell Molly to be discreet.


	7. VII

George tried to look casual while walking to the library holding the present in his hand tightly. It was just a few days after Christmas – time enough for his mother to find some silver-grey wool and dark green, and knit a scarf that matched the Slytherin uniform, so Cassiopeia could wear his gift without fearing anyone would look twice at it. It wasn't a branded scarf – he had caught a glimpse of it and it didn't look much like the one in their uniform, and that made it much more unique.

He really hoped she liked it. Her Christmas present to him was something huge and expensive, and he really wanted to give her something back.

' Meet me in the library', he had sent the note to her in the morning, completely nervous and hoping no one would find the two of them.

Cassiopeia was hiding in one of the sections, between the selves, and looking around with an anxious face.

"Hey," he smiled nervously, feeling his cheeks get a bit red when he saw her. "Hi."

"Hello," she said with a smile smaller than his, flushing a bit when their eyes met. "Did something happen? The note looked pretty urgent."

His eyes widened at the question, but George quickly shook his head.

"No. It's okay. I mean… Well, something happened but it was good," he pointed. "Professor McGonagall called me up and I got 150 points to Gryffindor after hearing about what I did."

Cassiopeia nodded and lowered her eyes down to the present in his hand, and he quickly raised it.

"Here," he said, placing it in her hands. "It's your Christmas present. A very late Christmas present."

Cassiopeia frowned, looking at him with curiosity and then back at the wrapped thing before opening it and pulling out a scarf. It was in the colour of her uniform and very soft.

"My mum made it," he affirmed, nervously. "Don't worry, I didn't tell her you were you but I said you were a Slytherin… Friend?"

Her head shot right up to look at his face.

"You think we're friends?" she let out, unable to control herself, and his brown eyes widened.

George felt his heart race. She didn't want him as a friend? Maybe he was understanding it all wrong? Shit, what would he do with that scarf, he couldn't just send it back home! His mother wouldn't leave him alone at all. He was already bracing himself for her thousands of questions when she caught him alone at home.

"Yeah," he let out slowly. "I… Guess? Are we?"

She nodded slowly.

"I-I don't… I don't know," Cassiopeia stuttered. "Do you want to be my friend? The people from your house hates mine. And your father and my father..."

"We are not our fathers," he interrupted her. "Well, your dad is kinda..."

He interrupted himself when the Malfoy girl raised a single eyebrow at him.

"Don't mind that. But we are friends. I do want to be your friend."

Cassiopeia let out a tiny smile and George fidgeted with the paper in his hands a second before she picked the scarf and slowly put it around her neck, styling it and smiling at him. George's heart raced almost instantly. Oh damn, she had a beautiful smile.

"You look great," he blurted out. "I mean… It looks great on you."

She moved her right hand to the scarf, feeling its fabric underneath her fingertips.

"Thank you. It's really beautiful and it feels really warm," the girl pointed. "And cosy."

"Yeah," he smiled, still staring at her.

She had gorgeous eyes.

The two fell into silence and soon they were just looking at each other awkwardly.

"I think I should go," Cassiopeia finally said. "Draco is probably looking for me."

"Yeah," he scratched the back of his head. "Sure. I need to go to. Bye?"

She nodded.

"Bye."

But none of them moved.

"I should go first," he suggested. "And then… You go?"

"Sure," Cassiopeia agreed. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye."


	8. VIII

Narcissa was too much of an uptight woman to send Draco a Howler, but she certainly would do so if she could. The day after the Yule Ball, she'd sent her kids two letters, and his honestly looked the size of the Daily Prophet. Cassiopeia had caught a glimpse of it and was very surprised her mother's quill hadn't torn the paper with low aggressively she'd written that.

So, now, he was almost shielding her from every single boy and man in the school's territory. Anything that carried a male sexual organ was imminent danger.

It was the last day before everyone was back to the usual school routine and everyone who'd gone home was coming back, and their father had decided to show up to see the two young Malfoys without warning them. Cassiopeia was wearing the scarf George had given her when she heard he wanted to meet them and hid it very deeply in her chest before dressing up with something he'd already seen her with before, leaving the girls' dorm just in time to see him entering the common room.

Cassiopeia swiftly walked in his direction.

"Father," she said politely and sweetly. "Hello."

Draco moved to his sister's side almost instantly.

"Cassiopeia, he ran his eyes over her and then the boy by her side. "Draco."

"Father."

Everyone could tension increasing and with the corner of her eyes, she could see students leaving to 'give them privacy'.

"What do we own the visit?" she tried to keep her words light.

"Your mother told me about your incident n the Yule Ball, so I came here to discuss the situation with the headmaster and see if my daughter is in her best state."

Cassiopeia knew that voice.

' _It's in the past. Pick yourself together.'_

Not the best comforting words, but Lucius was never good with those.

"It's gone," Cassiopeia affirmed. "There is no need to drag it for longer than the needed."

He watched his daughter's face for a bit and finally nodded.

"That's great."

He turned to Draco, and his face was as hard as a rock.

"Draco, would you come with me?"

The boy glanced at her for a moment and swallowed down saliva.

"Of course."

The two left, and she fell on the couch.

 _Good Merlin._

Cassiopeia made her way back to the girl's dorm, deciding to just get into her bed and under the covers with a book in hands, she had plenty of those. She was already half a book in when her eyes fell on the chest on the end of the bed, debating over getting or not the scarf George had given her at Christmas after giving up and doing so. She had just lied back to under the covers when Eleanor opened the door.

"Hey," she sat on her mattress. "Nice scarf."

She felt her cheeks red and hot.

"Thanks," she looked down to her book, trying to hide her embarrassment.

* * *

"So he just… Showed up?" George questioned in a whisper. "Out of nowhere?"

Cassiopeia nodded.

They were sat in the in the emptiest corner of the library with him almost laying on the table, with his hands randomly playing with his wand.

"He does that sometimes," she moved her eyes from the parchment to look at him, grey-blue eyes boring into brown ones. "It's not a surprise."

She had come there alone to stud. This was her favourite spot, where she could be away from the noise, the people watching her or couples kissing around.

"So, he just comes to watch you and see if you're in line?" he raised his eyebrows to her. "Wow. _Controller much_?"

Cassiopeia frowned, turning to him.

"I'm sure he has the best intentions," she defended her father. "He just wants to make sure we're okay."

"That's what you're saying," he whispered, sighing. "You're done?"

George had come in with no clear reason and tentatively sat with her.

"Bored?" she dip her quill in ink.

"Well, it's a perfect snow day outside and we don't have anything to do for an hour or so. _**And**_ I know a very nice place to have a snowball fight that happens to be mostly empty during the day."

Cassiopeia smirked at George, then stopped for a moment.

"Alright."

They put her things in her back and followed him while George kept a tiny smirk. When the two reached the empty patio, he stopped to watch her looking around. The snow was reflecting the sun all over her pale face and her eyes had changed to a full grey with all the white around her.

 _She was so bloody beautiful._

He woke up from his state when a snowball hit him on the face.

"Didn't your mother tell you it was rude to stare?" Cassiopeia smirked at him.

He felt his cheeks, neck and ears deep red in embarrassment before recomposing.

"Come on," she smiled fully, grabbing more snow in her hands. "You're not afraid of hitting me, right?"

He was, but just a bit. But when his first snowball hit her on the chest right after her teasing words, he completely left it aside and ran to find a place to hide while the girl did the same.

They played like two kids and, when the two realised it, they were already covered in white snow and, in a miscalculated movement, fell together on the ground with her on top of him.

He just stared at Cassiopeia with his mouth slightly open, watching as her soft giggle slowly died and her eyes bore into his.

She opened and closed her lips hesitantly twice before finally speaking.

"I think I should go," she decided, standing on her feet. "It's getting late."

"Yeah," he sat up. "You're right."

The girl nodded, putting a strand of blonde-white hair behind her ear, and he scratched the back of his neck.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Sure," she said quickly. "Bye."

She took off almost running, and he was left behind, letting out the longest sighed.

 _Bloody Merlin… What was she doing to him?_

"Bye."


	9. IX

Cassiopeia held herself a bit tighter under the covers. It was the day of the second task, and the girl had woken up with a terrible fever. Madam Pomfrey was in such a hurry she had only given the Malfoy girl the potion she should take and its instructions. She told her to sleep and that she would be back before she realised before running off to attend the 2nd task.

"Cassiopeia," she heard by her side through her tired brain, trying to fall back to sleep. "Cassie!"

Cassie?

She opened her eyes just a tiny bit, finding George just in front of her.

"What?" she groaned, completely ignoring the nickname.

He pulled a chair, sitting carelessly by her side.

"I was looking for you all around," he whispered. "I heard a girl saying she saw Draco bringing you to here. What happened?"

"Black cat flu," Cassiopeia whined.

She usually had a very strong metabolism and was very surprised she had fallen sick. With two large groups from different countries living in the school, however, it was easy to see where this had come from.

"That sucks," he rested his chin on the bed. "You're losing all the fun."

"You too," she reminded him, frowning. "Why are you here?"

George shrugged.

"Draco is out there, your friend… Uh… What's her name? Something Rosier?"

"Eleanor. Eleanor Rosier."

He nodded.

"She's out there too," he shrugged. "And I imagined you would be alone, so I came here to see you."

Cassiopeia gave him a tiny smile.

"Thank you," she said, surprised by his gesture. "But you should be out there. You don't want to stay around. I'm sick, you may catch it."

George chuckled.

"Well, maybe I want to catch it," he gave her a wicked smile.

Cassiopeia rose her perfectly made eyebrows at him, completely shocked.

"George!"

"What?" he sat up, chuckling a bit at her expression. "Look, I'll be out of classes for a week, I won't need to compete with Ron for the food and I'll have you right here, which is the best part. I mean, it's a week of not needing to sneak around or going to the library all the time to have five minutes without risking having people gossiping around."

She just shook her head.

Cassiopeia's friendship with George was probably the biggest secret she'd kept outside of her family. She didn't know about the Weasleys, but if anyone in the Malfoy family even heard the two were close in any way she would be in huge trouble. So, almost every day they sneaked around to see one another for a couple of minutes before going back to their usual lives.

Most of the time, they shared stories about their lives. George's told tales about him and Fred and their inventions and adventures. They were always a way he could make her laugh without any reservation, and Cassiopeia told stories about her family – or the little she could tell of them – which gave him an insight of the type of life she actually lived.

Outside the trips and presents and things that money could buy, and even with Draco as her brother, she sounded like someone quite lonely and who wanted something more out of life. Not that Cassiopeia didn't like the money: she spoke of the trips and things she had in a way he could see it was big in her life. But hearing about her parents made him feel rather grateful his were how they were. Money could be something the Weasleys didn't have much of, but Molly was always loving and brutally honest with them, and Arthur was very affectionate and present in his and his siblings lives. To him, Lucius sounded a lot more like having a teacher at home, watching your every step, than a proper father.

Internally, he took a note about how he'd never be like that to his kids if he eventually became a parent.

"You really think that?" Cassiopeia whispered.

Not even Draco had said anything like that to her. The moment she had insisted for him to leave her and go watch the task, he turned on his heels, put his "Potter Sucks" button right over his heart and ran out with Crabbe and Goyle.

Nice brother, the one she had.

"I would never lie to you," he rolled his eyes. "Do I look like a Sly..."

He stopped in the middle of the word, biting his tongue.

"Sorry. It's the habit."

"It's okay," Cassiopeia shrugged. "We are, indeed, good liars."

He blushed not looking directly into her eyes.

"I mean… You know," Cassiopeia shrugged. "Slytherins are ambitious, we can do anything to get where we want."

She rested her head back on her pillow – which Eleanor had given Draco to bring into the infirmary from the dorm.

"Most of us aren't above lying."

He hesitated.

"Are you?"

Cassiopeia turned to George, her grey-blue eyes staring bluntly into his own.

"Once, I put a pimple potion in a girl's pumpkin juice because she copied from my test and then made everyone believed it was Eleanor."

His eyes widened, completely surprised. He didn't know she could be that cold.

"Really?"

She stared at him for a long moment, but then started laughing.

"No," Cassiopeia shook her head, making her messy white-blonde hair go everywhere. She hadn't put much effort into brushing it before leaving the dorm, just enough to make it look decent. "I wish I had, though. I wasn't that good with potions. But you believed me!"

He let out a nervous laugh, relaxing.

"You really got me with that one."

She just continued laughing until it became a giggle and died.

"But, yes, George. I can lie if I need."

He hesitated, playing with the sheets under in his fingertips.

"But I'll never lie to you," she decided. "Don't worry."

George looked at her with his lips parted open, surprised, and then gave her a smile.

"Thank you for that."


	10. X

Fred glanced at his side when George fell on the empty seat on the couch, in the Gryffindor common room.

"How is she?"

"Too sick to go to Hogsmeade," he muttered.

Fred was the only one who knew about George's friendship with you. It's not like his other siblings didn't think something was going on, but they didn't know who you were or what you two had.

"Well, your plans for a date is spoiled, then."

"Date?" Ginny turned her head fully to them. "You're dating someone?"

"I'm not dating anyone," he said grumpily, feeling his whole face turn hot and red.

"I bet it's the mystery girl," Ron accused. "He's always disappearing to see her."

Harry and Hermione only raised their eyebrows at them, fixing their eyes on George, who only kept blushing more and more.

"No, I don't!"

"I heard she is from Durmstrang," Fred fed the fire and his twin turned to him with his brown eyes widened. "And friends with Krum."

Ron glanced at them with an annoyed face.

"Maybe you four could have a double date, Hermione," he continued. "Then maybe someone will see mystery girl."

His youngest brother chuckled.

"Maybe he is really ugly," he accused. "And that's why he doesn't want us to see her."

George rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

"Yep," Ron decided. "Really, really ugly."

"Anything else?" Cassiopeia questioned Eleanor after she explained what Professor McGonagall had requested for the next class.

In response, her friend put her hand in her pocket.

"Someone left this for you on my desk," she pulled the object, laying the box in front of the girl and Malfoy looked at it in surprise.

A chocolate frog.

"How do you know it was for me?" Cassiopeia frowned, smiling. "It could be for you."

"Well, I'm not Miss C. Malfoy," she gave the blonde girl a smirk, pulling a note and showing it to her.

Quickly, she recognised George's handwriting.

"To Miss C. Malfoy," she read out loud. "Get well soon."

She smiled at Cassiopeia and nudged her in the ribs with her elbow, seeing as her friend blushed.

"A secret admirer?"

"Maybe," Cassiopeia smirked, opening the box, pulling out the frog, and biting it before it could jump out of her reach.

Merlin, with Madam Pomfrey keeping her in such a tight leash so she could heal faster, she'd missed chocolate so much.

"Maybe?" Eleanor rested her elbows on the bed. "Come on, we both know you're hiding something from everyone. Who is he?"

Cassiopeia shook her head, keeping herself from revealing anything.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she decided. "I've never been so single."

Eleanor chuckled.

"Alright, then."

It was impossible to deny that Cassiopeia and George had… something. She didn't know what it was, didn't know what it would become… All she knew was that it was something different from anything she had ever felt in her life.

"I have to go," Eleanor stood up. "Are you sure you'll be okay alone tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Cassiopeia put her things aside. "Don't worry. Draco will bring me a couple of books before leaving"

She nodded and left, and Cassiopeia yawned once she was alone. Although she was getting better, she still had fevers more than once a day - that was what kept the her in the medical wing since she'd fallen with the Black Cat Fur.

It was boring to be alone, honestly. She slept for most of the day, and while there were scattered visits from Eleanor and Draco, George showed up every single day. He'd been 'such a good boy' according to Madam Pomfrey, that she always let him in and hid the fact he was there all the time from anyone who asked. Once, she'd even found a place to hide him when Draco showed up during one of his visits. Apparently, she had a thing for 'young innocent love.'

Cassiopeia had never seen George blush so deeply and never felt her cheeks redder when the two heard that.

"Have a nice sleep, my dear," she said, turning off the main lights just as the girl curled under her sheets.

"Good night, ma'am."


	11. XI

Cassiopeia covered her mouth with her hand, trying to muffle a laugh while George watched her face.

"How come no one told me about that?!" she exclaimed.

He'd just told the girl about the day he and his brother had tried to put their names in the Goblet of Fire and ended up with huge red beards and puffy hair, looking thirty years older.

"Well, lots of people did it," he shrugged. "It's not like we were the only ones."

The Malfoy shook her head in disbelief.

"It was a stupid decision," she decided. "A very stupid decision."

He shrugged.

"It was worth the try. They got us only for a few months."

She tilted her head just the slightest.

"Did you turn 17 already?"

He shook his head.

"This April," he corrected her. "The first of April."

She widened her eyes at him, completely surprised.

"On April Fools?!"

He smiled with a laugh.

"Right on it," her friend nodded.

"Big coincidence!" she affirmed.

He shook his head, smiling again.

"No, my dear. I call that destiny."

Cassiopeia rested her head back on her pillow, feeling a bit colder and pulling her covers up.

"You've heard of our pranks, right?" he enquired. "Stuff we do and all?"

She nodded. Fred and George were rather famous in school for their pranks. They'd even been rumoured to have invented a spell along with their usual magical things.

"We made a Canary Cream recently," he said smiling. "It turns people into..."

"Canaries?" she rose an eyebrow.

George confirmed eagerly.

"They are custard creams," he explained. "You should take some to Slytherin."

The two exchanged looks before they started laughing together.

"Don't give me ideas," she pointed. "Although… that little friend of Draco deserves something to keep her mouth shut. Her voice annoys me even if she's on the other side of the corridor."

He frowned.

"Who are you talking about? Parkinson?"

She nodded.

"Who else would it be?" Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows at him. "She's such a brat."

George just stared at her, half smiling and half frowning.

"Come on, I thought you were a brat for the last six years," he pointed.

Cassiopeia's jaw fell open in response.

"I never behaved anything like a brat to you!" she exclaimed. "I was always very polite!"

He laughed loudly.

She was right. Cassiopeia had never been any close to rude to him or anything like that. Every time he bumped into her or the two shared a classroom, she either ignored him or treated him in the best cordial way.

"Alright, Miss Malfoy," he rolled his eyes. "Maybe I was wrong. But you were always just so… Malfoy-ish."

She tilted her head, completely confused.

"Beg your pardon?"

"Look at yourself," he pointed. "You're this… Beautiful girl from a very rich family, with your back always straight, walking with your head up. With your hair in place and your clothes always smooth and clean. I could always smell you from across the room and you never ever smelt less than good."

She just continued staring at him.

"Thank you," she said in a low voice.

"You're welcome," he looked down at his own hands, playing with the sheet between his fingers. "Well, anyway. You were always this… Perfect girl," he said firmly. "I always thought you'd be uptight and annoying."

"Do you still think that?" she questioned in a soft voice.

"That you're uptight and annoying?" he said, surprised. "No way! I mean, you're still a Slytherin. But I see how that can be okay now that I know you. And you're a bit of a goody-two-shoes, even being a Slytherin, but maybe you're a good influence. Professor McGonagall was surprised when we delivered our homework every single time in the last three or four classes, me and Fred. She said she couldn't remember the last time we actually did so."

She chuckled, shaking her head. It's not that George or his brother had done any homework. Cassiopeia had just leCassiopeiarom hers with some modifications to make it look like it was something he'd done alone – or at least they'd done together – and Fred had done the same. She didn't mind it, it wasn't like he asked her for it, she was the one offering it to him.

The blonde girl rested back on the bed and bit her fingernail nervously when a question crossed her mind.

"Do you still think I'm that?"

He looked at her in confusion.

"Annoying?"

"No," she shook her head, not looking directly at him. "Beautiful and… Perfect."

George's mouth opened and closed for a moment before Madam Pomfrey walked into the room.

"Alright, Mr Weasley," she walked to them. "Time to go, Miss Malfoy needs to take her potions and rest. Go, go, go."

He stood up dumbly just as she pushed him away, and her eyes were completely glued to his figure leaving.

"Wait," he finally said, almost out of her field of vision. "Wait."

The matron put her hands on her waist.

"Mr Weasley!"

"I never stopped thinking that," he said to Cassiopeia. "I don't think I will ever find you less than beautiful and perfect."

And with that, he left.


	12. XII

Cassiopeia put her things together right after Madam Pomfrey said she could leave, with the promise she'd keep an eye open of any symptoms and show up every day for three days so she could take a note on the girl's recovery. The flu had taken more time to heal than the young Malfoy had first expected, and that worried Pomfrey quite much.

It was another Hogsmeade day, which left the castle basically empty and silent, something rare and pleasant. Cassiopeia had just left the common room and walked out of the dungeons when she saw George right outside the zone. Her light eyes lit up instantly when they fell on him.

"Cas!" he exclaimed, running to her. "You're up again!"

"Yes," she nodded, smiling and feeling her cheeks slightly red at the nickname. He had really gotten attached to the idea of nicknaming her, and after 'Cassie' hadn't worked, he'd shifted the name to a different one. "I just got here. Never felt better."

George opened a large smile.

"I thought you'd be at Hogsmeade," the girl stepped closer to him.

No, she didn't. Not really. Even since Cassiopeia had gotten sick, he'd stopped going out and just spent his free time with her in the medical wing, something not even her older friends or her brother did.

"I was on my way to visit you," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck in an embarrassed way. "Got Fred to bring you a chocolate frog on my account but I'm pretty sure he forgot."

Cassiopeia only gave him a shy smile. She had yet to meet Fred Weasley. She had seen him and could tell him and George apart, of course, but the two hadn't exchanged a single word.

"Are you hungry?" he questioned.

"Starving."

George gave her a large smile.

"Come with me," he took her smaller hand in his carelessly, pulling Cassiopeia along with him.

The girl blushed furiously blushed, but neither of them said anything. They just kept walking, taking the stairs downwards from the entrance hall and reaching a broad corridor, stopping in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit. He tickled a pear, which giggled, and opened a door for the friends to walk in to through.

Cassiopeia was surprised when she found herself in the kitchens. Several house elves were cleaning pots and cooking.

"Mister Fred and George!" one of them exclaimed.

"Just George, Ringo," he corrected the elf. "This is Cassiopeia, she's my friend. She was sick these past few days and just left the medical wing. She is absolutely starving. Do you have anything we could eat?"

The two were quickly and eagerly ushered to a side table and a meal for at least 10 people was put in front of them, which gave the girl the opportunity to pick her favourite things and savour them beside George. The food in the medical wing was mostly bland and just barely edible.

This was the good stuff.

"Mr George didn't say he had a girlfriend."

George's face went full red in response, and she chugged down juice to keep herself quiet.

"She's not my girlfriend," he corrected the elf. "We're close friends."

Cassiopeia nodded silently, feeling the elf's eyes between the two of them.

"Of course, Mr George. Ringo will leave Mr George and Miss Cassiopeia alone."

He left and George chuckled silently.

"What?" she turned to him.

"I was imagining us dating," he looked at her, unable to hide a smirk.

Cassiopeia felt sadness washing over her, realising how terrible of an idea it seemed to be for him. She certainly wasn't that bad... Right?

"Your mother would faint," he affirmed. "My brothers would freeze completely for days. Ginny would send me to a mind healer in St Mungus instantly."

Cassiopeia chuckled a bit, relaxing.

"My father wouldn't believe it," she shook her head, making white-blonde hair falling from behind her ear. "He would send me out of the country, though."

He raised his eyebrows at the girl, surprised.

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Yeah. Somewhere you couldn't find me. France, Italy… Bulgaria."

He lowered his eyes hesitantly.

"We gotta keep this thing close between us, then," he muttered. "I mean… We're not dating, but he wouldn't be that nice with me being your friend. I think."

The girl took a breath, closing her eyes for a short moment, and her voice came out soft and with a frightened tone.

"Yeah, he wouldn't."

they fell back into the silence and he toyed with his food.

"Good thing we're not dating, huh?" he whispered. "It would be… Pretty bad…"

"Yeah… Good thing."


	13. XIII

Draco glanced up at his sister while she picked up her things to go take the tests she'd missed during her time sick, his face a weird mix of confusion and concentration like he was trying to read Cassiopeia's mind or get inside it.

"There's something different with you," he decided.

The siblings had very little secrets, and that was a thing that always made both of them very proud. Ever since they were kids they were each other's closest friends, and up until she got into Hogwarts he was actually the only kid she was actually around, as the two were the only kids in the Black-Malfoy family.

"Oh, yeah?" she glanced at him.

He shifted on his seat.

"You're weird. Too happy."

Cassiopeia felt her shoulders tensing up, but tried to keep a light voice tone.

"I just spent almost three weeks bed-sick, Draco," she reminded him. "And now I'm great again. I'm pretty sure that had some effect on me."

Her brother gave her a suspicious look, and Cassiopeia only raised her eyebrows in response.

"I heard someone sent you a chocolate frog when you were sick," he said slowly.

"Yeah. Eleanor said it came with a note. It was very sweet."

It was Draco's time to raise his eyebrows.

"That's it? You're not even telling me who was it?"

Cassiopeia just shook her head, tying her hair up.

"I don't even know who it was," she lied, finally. "Besides, it's not like someone tried to talk to me after it. I was rather lonely in there as no one liked to spend a lot of time with me. I have a brother, anyway," she gave him a look. "Right."

Draco blushed and his sister sighed, standing up.

"Now, if you don't have any other protests," she held her things close to her chest. "I have to meet Professor Snape."

He didn't say anything as the girl left and let out a breath of relief as soon as she was outside.

No one had ever seen Cassiopeia with George, the two had always made sure of that, but she couldn't help but be nervous.

If Lucius even heard his dear daughter was friends with a Weasley, she couldn't even imagine the consequences. He wouldn't wait for the blonde girl to say if it was true or not. So she simply couldn't let her walls down, it was too dangerous.

"Miss Malfoy," the professor said just as she entered, standing behind his desk, and the Malfoy nodded politely while organising her own desk. "Do you have all you need?"

"Yes, sir," she sat down and held her wand in her hand delicately.

"We may proceed."

Cassiopeia checked herself in the mirror for what felt like the 10th time, and Eleanor just stared at her friends with her arms crossed.

"Come on," she insisted. "It's almost time."

Cassiopeia was nervous. More than nervous. Her hands were shaky and cold, and her heart was thundering inside her chest. They were going out to Hogsmeade and she would meet George there with Eleanor's help. Her friend didn't know who she was out to see but was very excited to know that the Malfoy and the 'note boy' were going out together. The two had even charmed rings to warn one another about any danger or gossiper.

When the teenage girls climbed into the carriage, Cassiopeia kept toying with the fabric of her clothes between her thin long fingers. Eleanor gave her a stern look, which helped the Malfoy move back to her usual posture just before Draco climbed another car with his friends.

Cassiopeia walked around with her friend, doing what the girls usually did for enough time for her to be backed up in case anyone mentioned her disappearance, but she left Eleanor when they got to the smaller streets and found George almost immediately. He was smiling and holding one of his hands behind his back as he walked in her direction.

"Cas! You're here," he stopped, looking deeply relieved.

"Of course I'm here," she frowned. "I said I'd be here."

George blushed deeply, reddening from his neck to his ears, and shifted on his feet.

"I… Uh… I was afraid you wouldn't. I got a bit nervous," he confessed and looked around. "This is a bit… Public."

Cassiopeia looked behind her back. It really was. They weren't in the main street – where everyone else always went during the visits – but it was still a bit dangerous.

"Well," she bit her bottom lip. "We'll be careful."

He nodded slowly and seemed to remember something.

"Oh, close your eyes," he requested, and the girl frowned, staring at him for a moment. "Come on, don't you trust me?"

She sighed but closed her eyes anyway. How couldn't she trust him? He was George.

Delicately, he placed something in her hand and closed her fingers around what she felt was a stalk.

"Open them," he whispered.

She complied, and the first thing her grey-blue irises fell on was the rose in her hands. It was different from anything the girl had first expected - iridescent colour and shining like tiny diamonds were covering its whole surface.

"What do you think?" he gave her a hesitant look.

"It's beautiful," Cassiopeia continued looking at it, twirling it to see how it reacted to the light. "It's… How did you do that?"

"A special spell I may tell you about one day," he put his hands in his pockets. "It's charmed to live forever."

Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows to him, surprise written over her fair face.

"Forever?"

He grimaced for a second.

"Okay, not forever. But for as long as our friendship lives."

Cassiopeia gave him a shy smile, feeling as something ran all over her and her cheeks reddened deeply. It was a mixture of happiness and nervousness, with calming excitement, the same thing she always felt with George but on a bigger scale. It made her feel weird but the girl liked it a lot, nonetheless.

"That is beautiful, George," she finally said, looking him in the eyes. "Thank you."

"It's the least I can do," he shrugged. "I mean, you were in the medical wing for so long and I can't really stuff you with food and candy to make you happier the way I want to, so my second idea was a rose."

The teenage girl chuckled.

"I think I have Draco and Eleanor to do that," she assured him. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to keep the rose."

His shoulders relaxed and he pointed forward shyly.

"Shall we? I found a pretty place in the village that you'll probably like. The flowers are really blooming and they look great."

Cassiopeia nodded, tucking a strand of light hair behind her ear.

"Okay. Let's go."


	14. XIV

Cassiopeia twirled the rose in her thin fingers while George animatedly told her about how he and Fred had recently come up with a new version of their Trick Wand, which now – in addition to turning into a random object when a spell was cast– beat the user on the head and neck. She couldn't help but smile with how passionate he sounded. Every time he mentioned any invention or how he came up with the idea with his brother, his eyes brown lit up and his whole posture changed - he was clearly much more confident and happy.

"What about you?" he questioned.

"Me?"

He had Cassiopeia's hand in his for some reason, - the one that wasn't holding the rose – and his fingertips were making little patterns on her slightly cool skin while the two spoke. She wasn't even sure he knew he was doing it, but it was so natural neither of them even thought about it.

"You," he nodded. "What do you want to do after school?"

The girl hesitated, biting her lip.

"Well… My parents want me to work for the ministry just like dad," she told him. "Or marry some man from a good family and be a stay home parent just like my mother."

When Cassiopeia said 'good family', both of them knew to what that referred to. Some pureblood family with money and prestige and a son to keep her as a trophy wife.

He raised his eyebrows at her, silently telling the Malfoy girl to continue.

"But I want to work in the business area, just like you," she confessed. "Not inventing but behind everything."

"Like… With numbers?"

She nodded.

"Does it make any sense?"

George just squeezed Cassiopeia's hand in his.

"Yeah," he nodded and smiled when something crossed his mind. "You know what? You can work with me and Fred in our store!"

The girl moved her head to look at him in surprise, her blue-grey eyes wide during the motion.

"Really?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "I mean, you're smart as..."

She glanced at him as a challenge and George slowed down his words. Cas hated when he cussed, and he knew that very well.

"Heck?"

She rolled her eyes, but he continued anyway.

"Well, you are!" he insisted. "And I know I can trust you, and Fred will be the same when you two meet so there is no need to worry."

Cassiopeia shook her head. George was uncorrectable.

"We should head back," he looked outside through the closest window. "Everyone will be leaving soon."

he teenager looked down, feeling her shoulders sink just a bit.

She didn't want to leave. Nowadays, what she liked the most was spending time with George. She even looked forward to when they managed to sneak around to see and talk to each other.

"I guess I'll see you around," he stood up awkwardly. "In the library after Flickwick's class?"

She nodded eagerly.

"Yes, of course."

George smiled, offering her his arm and guiding the two of them to a street with an exit to the main street. Cassiopeia left before him, quickly meeting with Eleanor and wrapping her arm around hers just as Draco came into her field of vision.

"Hey," he stopped in front of the two girls, looking confused. "I've been looking for you two the whole day, where have you been?"

The two friends exchanged looks, and Eleanor was quick to shrug carelessly.

"We went around. We visited Zonko's and some other places and..." she trailed off.

"And some places out of the main area," the Malfoy girl added.

That had her brother even more confused.

"Why would you do that?"

"Is it against the law?" Cassiopeia's posture changed to defensive. "We were curious. We've been coming here since our third year and yet we've only ever visited places everyone else has already visited."

"Yeah," her friend insisted. "What if we're missing something?"

He didn't press on the subjected, but his eyes rapidly averted to where his sister's fingers were holding the iridescent rose.

"What about the flower?"

Both the girls' eyes moved to the rose, and the owner of the gift struggled to find a reason for it.

"A lady was giving them out," Eleanor decided. "It was the last one and she thought Cassiopeia should have it. She said it looked a bit like her eyes or something."

In response, Cassiopeia raised the rose, bringing it closer to their vision and pretending to do a comparison.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

Draco inspected it with attentive eyes.

"Yeah," he finally agreed. "It's beautiful."

His sister gave him a forced smile, moving the subject away.

"I'm tired," she lied. "We should join the others and go."

"Yes," Eleanor quickly agreed. "Me too. We walked a lot. Are you coming with us, Draco?"

"I'll go check with the others," he decided. "I'll see you in the castle."

The two friends walked away before he could change his mind, climbing the closest empty carriage, and Eleanor was quick to call her friend's attention while they were still alone.

"Now, tell me everything," She instructed. "And don't forget a single detail."


	15. XV

"Try writing down now," Cassiopeia offered the dark diary to George, feeling him glaring at her with a deep frown.

"Are you sure that's not gonna try to suck my soul for energy?" he questioned, not even touching the object.

She rolled her eyes for what felt like the 100th time.

"No, George. Don't you trust me?"

In front of the two teens there were two diaries. The one she had offered him and a greyish one the girl had for herself. For weeks Cassiopeia had worked on enchanting them and these were the final product. With them, they'd be able to communicate during the holidays without people thinking something was up or being able to access the object.

He hesitated, but pulled a quill from between them and wrote a series of random names down onto the paper.

When he was finished, Cassiopeia opened her own diary under his eyes, and his red eyebrows shot up when he realised it had actually worked, and his words were right there.

"See?" she smiled. "And it's snoop proof. If someone who isn't you tries to open it, it will lock itself up. If the person manages to break into it anyway, it will show up as empty pages. And, if they even try to go through its pages or write on it, it will disappear until you are safe and able to retrieve it."

George was surprised but, on top of that, he was very, very impressed. Damn, he couldn't even close his mouth, his jaw was out of his control.

"Cas, you are a genius!" he finally managed to exclaim. "I thought I wouldn't be able to talk to you the whole summer and you came up with that! That's… Like… That's brilliant."

The girl felt her cheeks get hot and pink in embarrassment.

"Now we can talk, right?" she gave him a shy look.

But what if he didn't want to talk...

George gave her huge a smile.

"We can spend the whole night talking even today!" he exclaimed. "It's so much better than hiding the whole time!"

Cassiopeia finally mirrored his smile, but let out a long sigh right after.

"We have to go," she finally said. "It's late and the last task is tomorrow."

He didn't protest and stood up.

"Are you excited?" he leant on the table while the girl collected her diary and gave his to him.

"For Summer?" she frowned.

"No," he shook his head. "For the last task!"

Cassiopeia denied quickly with a shake of a head that made her hair fall just a bit out of its restrains. She adjusted the stick that kept the blond strands together on a bum.

"I'm ready for this tournament to be over," she pointed. "I keep getting a bad feeling about it."

It was the first time she ever mentioned that. There was something happening, or about to happen. She didn't know what it was, but she definitely didn't want to be there to find out.

"You worry too much," he rolled his eyes. "It's just a fun thing, no one is getting hurt for real, the judges are here to make sure of that."

But she only shook her head again.

"I'm not gonna watch it," Cassiopeia decided. "Have fun with your brother there, you can tell me the details later."

George nodded, knowing better than to protest.

"Have a good night, then," he rubbed his own elbow in a nervous motion. "Uh… Sleep tight."

He wanted to hug her, but didn't know if they were past that barrier yet.

Not thinking and feeling bold, Cassiopeia walked to him and used the table to level her weight before planting a kiss on his cheek, giving him a small smile.

"Good night, George."


	16. XVI

Cassiopeia glanced at George from across the platform, waving very discreetly in his direction before entering the train. She hadn't had many opportunities to be alone with him since the end of the Triwizard Tournament, and the diaries had proven to be the perfect objects for communication.

He was just as worried as her after what had happened and the heavy feeling of loss and fear was shared by every other student. Something was in the air and she wasn't the only one who felt it.

"Can we sit together today?" she questioned Draco in a low whisper, stopping right at the door of her brother's cabin.

He looked at Cassiopeia for a moment, surprised, but barely hesitating after it.

"Of course," he moved, giving his sister space to sit beside the window.

The first thing Cassiopeia did after doing so was cling to him, resting her head on his shoulder. They had received a letter from their parents, something filled with vague words but with hidden meanings and threats.

There were important guests in the Malfoy Mansion, friends of the family who were visiting and wanted a peaceful and quiet experience. The two would be picked up by Narcissa in the station, and as she had woken up with a terrible mood, conversation wasn't encouraged.

Don't ask questions or talk to anyone about it.

"Are you okay?" Draco whispered.

"I'll be fine," his sister affirmed. "Don't worry about me."

* * *

Cassiopeia stepped carefully into her room, surprised by how she hadn't seen anyone upon their arrival but still as tense as the moment they left the school.

One of the house elves was already organising her things and gave a half surprised half scared look when she snatched the scarf George had given her from his hands.

"Be careful with this. It's worth more than any other thing in my luggage," the girl warned him.

"Why?" she heard behind herself and pulled her wand quickly, aiming it at whoever it was.

Runcorn.

He gave a wicked smile.

"Miss Malfoy. Cassiopeia," he seemed pleased. "Nice reflexes."

"Thank you," she lowered it slowly, although her heart was still racing in her chest.

He was, supposedly, her father's friend. They worked in the ministry together and he'd had dinner with the family once or twice while they were there, but she had never felt comfortable around him. Narcissa herself had always kept her and Draco away from him and people like him, like Macnair and Avery.

"What's so important about the scarf? Looks very ordinary to me."

Cassiopeia tried to think quickly.

"It was knitted in the Amazon forest by a single native Indian," she lied. "The wool was also tinted in a different way, you wouldn't understand."

He chuckled.

"Of course. Women and fashion, right?"

"Yes, Mr Runcorn."

The blonde girl just waited silently for him to leave and when that didn't happen, she shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

What was he still doing in her room?

"Why don't you put it on?" he stepped closer. "I'm sure it looks amazing to you."

Her eyes widened at his motion, and both of them jumped when another voice rose up behind him.

"Runcorn," Lucius said his name slowly. "I think you knocked on the wrong door."

The man turned around to face him, and Cassiopeia could see a sly smile forming on his face that overflowed with bad intentions.

"I was just admiring your daughter's..."

"My daughter's room isn't open for guests," he interrupted Runcorn before the man could finish his justification. "I believe I made myself very clear."

The man's smile died and he glanced at the blue-eyed girl before nodding.

"Of course," he nodded and fully turned to her for the last time. "It was a pleasure, Miss Malfoy."

She didn't answer and her father waited until his said friend had left to direct his eyes to her, laying them on the girl's hand. Just then she realised she was still clenching her wand tightly in her fingers.

"I assume you had a pleasant trip back?"

"It could have been better," she finally put her wand down. "I assume I'll be encouraged to spend most of the day at external activities."

He looked at her with some solemnity on his face.

"You know your mother and I always encourage you to enjoy your summer."

Lucius walked to his daughter slowly and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, moving a lock of white-blonde hair to behind her ear.

"It's good to have you back."

Cassiopeia wasn't blind or dumb.

For the last 15 years, the two Malfoys had been waiting for the moment the dark lord would rise again. They were Death Eaters – most of their friends were – and even taught her many things she had to question when she was mature enough to understand the implications.

In response to the affection, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. She could now put her head under his chin, tall enough that he had to raise it a bit to be able to keep the embrace. With parents as tall as Narcissa and Lucius, it wasn't a surprise that she was just as tall as Draco was now.

When she let go of him, Lucious glanced down at her face.

"He is back, right?" she questioned. "The dark lord. That's why everyone is here."

He nodded.

"Yes, Cassiopeia," he confirmed. "If you so wish, we can arrange..."

"I don't wanna join you," she interrupted him before he could even suggest the idea. "Thank you for the offer."

He just gave her another nod.

"I'll make sure no one will come to this area of the mansion again," he assured her.

"Thank you, dad."


	17. XVII

Cassiopeia hesitated with the quill over the diary. Maybe George was too busy with his family and didn't have the time to talk to her. The girl had been home for two weeks now, and most of her time was spent locked in her room, especially after Runcorn's incident. Her birthday, however, was coming up and she wasn't very happy with the idea of spending it like that. She wanted to be with George, and the past two weeks had given her a strange sort of loneliness and almost need to see him.

Slowly, she lowered her quill to the paper.

"Do you want to meet?"

The Malfoy girl didn't expect the answer to come in until at least an hour but, to her surprise, George's handwriting appeared right under her words not less than a minute later.

"Tomorrow morning?"

A smile blossomed on her sharp face and she felt herself relax while he told her the location.

"Meet me at Godric's Hollow at 11."

* * *

Neither Lucius or Narcissa asked any questions when Cassiopeia announced she was out for the day or looked twice at her. Still, she was careful when walking in the street George had told her to meet him, fearing anyone could see her and run to her parents to tell them what she was doing.

"Cas!" the blue-eyed girl heard, turning around to find George and relax just as he wrapped his arms around her skinny body in a tight hug.

"George," she whispered, melting in his embrace. Gosh, has he always smelled so good?

She had missed George. She missed talking to him and having the freedom she felt when around him. He was the only person she could be completely honest with and speak her mind without fear of being reprimanded. She didn't need to be the perfect example for anyone to follow. With George, Cassiopeia could be just herself.

"I missed you," he squeezed her. "I really did."

Neither of them actually wanted to let go but separated eventually.

"Sorry I didn't contact you. With your family and stuff, I thought you'd be too busy."

He raised his eyebrows at her in surprise.

"Busy? I'm never busy for you!" he affirmed, almost over the top. "I thought you didn't want to talk to me or your parents were all over you."

Cassiopeia lowered her eyes, taking a breath, and he quickly raised his voice.

"No talking about your parents," he decided.

She nodded to him slowly, giving him a sad smile.

"Let's just..." she licked her lips, and his eyes moved to it for a short moment. "Do what did you plan?"

George's face lit up quickly and he reached down to get something from his side, raising a small basket.

"We're having a picnic!" he said with a large smile. "And guess what?"

Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows at him.

"Yes?"

"I actually helped make something in this basket."

She looked at him with a surprised smile.

"I'm curious now," the girl decided. "And hungry. Shall we?"

He confirmed, still smiling, and offered her an arm, but the girl hesitated.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" Cassiopeia whispered.

George's face softened.

"The only people we know that live here are the Abbott family and they are out for the holidays."

He probably noticed the confusion in her eyes – she couldn't remember anyone named Abbott – and shifted the weight on his feet.

"Hannah Abbott? Hufflepuff?" he listed. "She's your brother's year."

Cassiopeia just shook her head.

"Doesn't ring any bells to me."

The red-haired boy stared at her.

"Do you even pay attention to people around you?" he questioned with a serious face.

She just shrugged.

"Only if I have to. She isn't relevant."

George held his look for a moment, but then looked away.

"Okay," he decided slowly. "No judging. Picnic?"

Cassiopeia finally confirmed and he offered her his arm again, which she took this time.

The two had a bit of a friendship code. Cassiopeia and George were two different people, their houses were just the start of it. He usually displayed his feelings clearly, was impulsive and very inventive, while she was much more rational and careful, sometimes even emotionally distant to see everything through the correct lens; and while he always put other people before himself, Cassiopeia would never ever risk her head for anyone unless they were actually important people, like Draco or her parents. So she came up with some rules to make things easier between the two of them, and the first was the most important: They wouldn't judge one another, it didn't matter how different something either of them said to the other or how odd a trait seemed.

Cassiopeia didn't say anything when George guided her to the cemetery and spread the sheet so the two could sit on it comfortably. She just watched as he organised everything he'd brought for the day.

"And what did you make?"

He promptly offered her the basket, pointing inside and making her look inside, which only increased her confusion.

"There's nothing in here George," she looked up at him. "Just a bunch of napkins."

He just gave her a nod and a proud smile.

"You see those napkins?" he pointed inside. "I folded them."

Cassiopeia just stared at him for a moment before finally answering.

"George!" the girl exclaimed, shaking her head and laughing. "Who cooked all that food, then?"

"My mum, of course!" he reached for one of the said napkins he was so proud of. "She said hi."

That made her freeze and turn to look at him.

"Did you tell her about…?" the blonde girl managed to ask.

"Most of the stuff," he affirmed, turning his body to her. "From Aleksandar to the diary... I mean, you don't know how happy she was that you helped me and Fred with homework and tests, cause now every single professor is talking about us like we got so much smarter overnight. She's kinda proud."

She watched his face for a little bit. He actually looked quite upset.

"You're not dumb," she finally affirmed. "Neither is Fred. You're one of the smartest people I know."

He just gave her a small smile.

"Really," she assured him. "You two create amazing things!"

He blushed up to his ears, looking away.

"You're just saying that because you're our number one fan."

"Exactly."

George finally looked directly at her.

"She said you should show up on your birthday," he offered. "If you don't have plans with your family."

This time Cassiopeia wasn't just surprised but completely shocked.

"Are you serious?" she questioned.

He shrugged.

"Of course. It's your birthday, and you said your house was kinda weird lately. You deserve a break."

Finally, her blue eyes acquired a soft look and she gave him a small smile.

"Thank you a lot, George," Cassiopeia reached out to cover his hand with hers. "I'll think about it."


	18. XVIII

"Darling?" Cassiopeia heard, instantly raising her head in surprise just to find Narcissa opening the door very slightly.

She was in her room, talking to George through the diary she had created, and the pages slammed closed on their own just as the woman opened her daughter's door, although still outside.

"Can I come in?"

The girl sat up on her bed, nodding lightly.

"You didn't tell me if you had fun," she sat on the armchair in the corner of the room and her daughter frowned in confusion.

"I spent the day home."

"Yesterday," Narcissa corrected the girl. "Draco said you came home all smiley and humming songs."

Cassiopeia's cheeks turned bright red as she tried to cover her embarrassment.

"It was fun," she said quickly. "Very… Fun."

Narcissa glanced at her daughter, both confused and deeply inquiring.

"And where did you go?"

The question didn't scare the girl. She'd prepared a full story to tell anyone who asked too many questions and could even tell it starting at the end if necessary.

"A beach," she lied. "We had some ice cream. I think I ran into a friend of dad's from the ministry but I can't remember their name. They sent their regards, however."

She allowed herself to smiled when Narcissa's face gave away as she'd believed her words.

"What else did you two do?"

"We had a picnic," she shrugged. "Nothing very elaborate, just two f-..."

"Friends going out together, I know," she interrupted her daughter. "Are you sure that's all? You don't think it's time to invite him for dinner? I'm sure we would all love him."

The blond-haired girl tried not to look too eager when shaking her head.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea right now," she phrased it slowly. "He… I…" she tried to continue. "We…"

Her mother just smiled like she knew the biggest of secrets.

"You're not ready," Narcissa decided. "I know. It's a blooming relationship, you don't want to rush it."

Her blue eyes widened.

"Relationship?!" she exclaimed. "Oh no, no, no! we're not together, Mum. We are definitely not together!"

She just stared at her daughter.

"Cassiopeia, I gave birth to you. I've known you for your whole life. You can't lie to me."

Oh, mother, you'd be surprised.

"We are not together," Cassiopeia repeated, emphatic.

Her mother moved from her place on the armchair and sat on the large and fluffy bed, moving her hands to her Cassiopeia's light hair, playing with the almost-white locks with her long and elegant fingers.

"You have a sparkle in your eye when you talk about him," she lowered her voice. "Honey… You may not be together, but you certainly do feel something for him."

The girl didn't answer, just looking away, and her mother reached out to hold her hand.

"You may not be together, but that doesn't mean you don't feel anything about him."

Cassiopeia didn't give her an answer and her mother moved her hand to her back, rubbing it softly.

"He..." the girl started but cleared her throat. "He asked me out again. For my birthday. He said we could visit a bit of the town with the beach and maybe have dinner at his house."

Narcissa looked at the teenager with a mixture of surprise and excitement.

"Do you want to spend your birthday with him?"

Her daughter hesitated. It's not that she didn't want to be with her family, but was feeling very suffocated where she was right now.

"I…" she hesitated. "I actually do. Maybe the weekend."

Narcissa didn't say anything, holding her silence.

"We're gonna need to find something to tell your father if you don't want him asking questions about that boy's family and name," she decided.

Cassiopeia nodded slowly. She'd had that conversation with her mother before, absolutely refusing to give a single piece of information about George except that he was from Beauxbatons – which was a big fat lie – and lived close to Paris.

"Are you sure you don't mind if I spend the weekend away?" the girl questioned;

Her mother hesitated and took a long breath.

"The further away from home I can get you now, the better," she decided, whispering her words as if the walls had ears – and they had. "Your brother is still a kid, but not you."

The teenager took a long breath. She knew what her mother meant. She could see how they looked at her whenever any of them caught any glimpse of her in the house as if they knew she wouldn't take much longer to give in and join their group .

"I'm gonna talk to him," Cassiopeia decided.


	19. XIX

George was starting to rethink everything. The whole family would be moving to Grimmauld Place 12 in a week, and while he trusted Cassiopeia, no one else was keen to showing her the hiding place of the Order of the Phoenix, especially with her family's history.

While Fred and his parents had agreed they had no problem with her showing up, Ron and Ginny still didn't know the girl was coming to the house, and there was a big chance of resistance from them. All they knew about her was that she was the girl he'd been hanging out with since the Yule Ball.

"When is she arriving, George?" Molly questioned.

He was nervous, very nervous actually, and the way he was pacing around made it clear.

His siblings were out around the house doing whatever, except for Fred. His twin was right by his side, waiting silently.

"She was supposed to be here already" he muttered, staring at the fireplace. "Are we sure the floo is still working?"

"Yes, sweetie," she said dismissively. "I'm sure your friend will be here before dinner, don't worry about it."

As if it was that easy…

What if she'd given up? Or maybe her parents and Draco were all over her and had decided they wanted her to spend her birthday with them? What if you-know-who had gotten her?!

Merlin, he couldn't even list how many bad things could be going on right now.

"Hey, George!" he heard a shout from upstairs. "I think there's a girl in a broomstick about to land outside."

The boy didn't even think about who had said that, instead he just ran to the front porch and got the largest of smiles when he recognised Cassiopeia. Fred was the one closest when she landed, giving her a pat on the back, but as soon as his brother was out of the way George was wrapping his arms around her slim waist and lifting her in an embrace that was so tight and warm that it destroyed any armour the girl had put up on her way to meet his family.

"Cas," he sighed against the crook of her neck, taking in the smell of her orange perfume mixed with some light sweat.

There was a list of things she should have cared about after her feet hit the ground: Her luggage, how her hair looked like she'd been in a battle, where she should put her broomstick… But none of those things even crossed her mind. Everything Cassiopeia could see, hear, smell and feel was George, and she wasn't close to letting him go.

"George," she muttered.

"I missed you," he squeezed her a bit harder. "I know it's been just two weeks but..."

"It's okay," she interrupted him, kissing his cheek and moving her hands to caress the back of his neck. "I've missed you too."

Molly watched the three teens from the door frame and turned her head to look at Ron and Ginny when they stepped behind her.

"Wow," the girl exclaimed when she saw the two still hugging. "I guess he really likes her."

"Let the girl go, George," his mother finally interrupted the two. "She just landed from a long flight, she must be thirsty."

He complied hesitantly, letting Cassiopeia down and blushing furiously when his eyes caught Fred's knowing smirk.

"Don't say anything," he hissed at his twin, although he knew it would hardly make any difference.

Just some steps away, Ronald and Ginny tried to catch a glimpse of the visitor, still only seeing some white blonde hair with the twins shielding her from their vision.

"Nice to meet you, darling," the woman walked to Cassiopeia. "I'm Molly Weasley."

She offered her a hand for a handshake, which she took with a strange look.

"Thank you for inviting me, Mrs Weasley," the Malfoy girl said politely. "George speaks wonderfully about you."

The redhead woman eyed her son, surprised.

"Well," she finally smiled. "He never shuts up about you, that's a fact. Come on in, let me get you something to drink. Boys, get her things."

Before Fred could reach out, George grabbed the small suitcase the blonde girl had let fall and the Firebolt she had rode there.

Finally, the two other siblings could see her face, and their eyes widened instantly.

"Malfoy?!" Ronald exclaimed. "What in bloody hell are you doing in here?"


	20. XX

The moment Cassiopeia closed the bathroom door, she could hear the shouting in what she assumed was the dining room. Ronald seemed very, very, upset, and didn't shy away from showing and yelling it out to his siblings and mother. Even with his voice muffled, she could hear very clear offences towards herself, Draco, and their whole family.

The blonde girl sighed. She knew it was bound to be a long weekend and, hopefully, the boy would be yelling less for the following days.

Later that night, dinner time was the worst staring battle she had ever seen. The two younger Weasleys had started a silent war against the twins and their own mother – and her, of course -, as their father was still at work.

They gave Cassiopeia the room in front of the twins' bedroom, and the moment the two teens were left alone by Fred, she and George sat down on the floor between the two doors. They talked and talked until both were too tired and fell asleep together, and that's how Molly had found them.

The Weasley mother wasn't 100% pleased with a Malfoy in her house. Not even 50%. Not even 10% if she was honest. Yet, the only time she'd seen George so happy when talking about something the way he did about Cassiopeia was with his inventions. He got the very same look in his brown eyes when talking about her. She already knew he loved the blonde girl, but after seeing her with him she was sure the young Malfoy felt the exact same for him - even if the two were still hiding it. Seeing the girl melting in her son's arms, and knowing from George how she was dealing with some heavy family tension had gotten her feeling a bit of pity for her in her heart.

"Come on, darling," she helped Cassiopeia up after pushing her son inside his own room and held the girl softly as she blindly entered the other bedroom. "It's bedtime."

"Good night," the blue-eyed girl muttered with her face pressed against the pillow, and Molly wondered if she was awake enough to know she wasn't home.

"Good night, Cassiopeia."

. . .

"It's not that bad," the girl faced forward, twirling a flower around her fingers. "It's just some couple of weeks until we can go back to Hogwarts."

They were sat on the warm grass in the garden behind the house.

It was officially her birthday now and the two had excused themselves like they had done the previous day. They were talking about her home once again and how she couldn't feel comfortable with all the visitors while trying to be as vague as possible.

"It will be a lot of days, though," he muttered. "Sorry you can't come to the new house, It's a huge mess and mum gets paranoid."

Cas gave him a small smile. He was lying – exactly like she was – but she couldn't bring herself into feeling upset. George had his own secrets to keep and she certainly didn't know even half of them.

"It's okay." the blonde girl reached out, touching his hand and he tangled his fingers on her.

In a hesitant but instant moment, George pulled Cassiopeia closer and let her rest her head on his shoulder.

"We can go out every day," he suggested. "The cemetery in Godric's Hollow is always empty."

The girl chuckled.

"We're so classy… Meeting in cemeteries to keep our friendship a secret. I'm sure we're the first in the world."

She fell into silence, though, at the same time he'd started making little circles with his thumb on the back of her hand.

When Cassiopeia raised her head to look at him, George's face was right there, a single breath away from her.

She simply loved his eyes. They were deep and sweet in a colour that reminded the teen of chocolate sprinkled with caramel and gold, shining everytime the sun hit it.

Without her realising, George moved his hand to her hair and put a blonde lock behind her ear.

"George..." she let out a whisper.

"Cas..." he shifted, moving ever closer to her.

Kiss me, she wanted to say. Oh, please, kiss me.

His nose brushed against her hesitantly, and Cas closed her eyes. Their lips had only brushed when the two heard a voice behind and pulled away.

"George, your mother..." the person stopped in the middle of their sentence. Cas could see George's whole face and neck reddening as he quickly stood up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's okay," he cleaned his pants from the dirt for a moment. "I'll go see her now."

The blonde girl turned to where he'd left, feeling her cheeks and face burning in embarrassment. Standing behind her was none other than Hermione Granger with a very surprised face.

"Malfoy?!"

The older teen stared at the young witch for a moment, still a bit shocked from her abrupt interruption, but stood up.

"Granger, I would be happy if you kept whatever you saw to yourself."

The girl stared at Cassiopeia for a long moment, but swallowed down and nodded.

"Yes. Of course."


	21. XXI

"Come on, Cas," she heard Fred's voice outside the door. "Dinner is almost ready."

She stood up and straightened up the fabric of her dress. Although simple, she knew this was quite a piece and hesitated leaving the room wearing it. It was a sort of special dinner being set up but she couldn't help feeling a bit overdressed.

"Coming."

Downstairs, George was walking around in crazy legs. He'd upgraded his clothes a notch too and was excited to try and impress her.

He was also nervous beyond measure. Earlier that day he'd almost kissed Cassiopeia and he was now overthinking it. What if it was uncalled for? Or she was now uncomfortable and didn't want to be around him any more? He liked her, he really - really - liked her and he had to accept that he saw the girl as more than a friend since the almost kiss, but now he was worried he had stretched their relationship beyond its limits.

"Hey," Bill stopped by his side. "Looking nervous."

"She's taking a lot of time in there," he scratched his elbow nervously.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," his older brother chuckled. "Just wait for the day you'll be waiting for her to get ready for a date. You better get used to this if you want to keep her as a girlfriend."

"She's not..." he started, but Bill interrupted him.

"But you wish she was. Don't lie."

George fell back into silence. He wasn't wrong.

"Mum said she looks at you the same way," he assured him. "Just go for it."

The young brother frowned.

"You don't mind her being… You know… A Malfoy?"

Bill hesitated but shrugged.

"Look… As long as she's not a death eater… I know Ron is a bit upset but it's most likely because of her brother. And because a pretty girl is into you now, of course."

George opened a lopsided smile.

"Really?"

"Really," Bill gave him a pat on the back. "Relax. You'll be fine."

He heard a step on the stairs and turned to see her coming down and smiled in relief, not even seeing his brother walk away.

"Am I late?" the blonde girl questioned, visibly nervous.

"You're the birthday girl," her friend chuckled. "We all showed up too early."

Cassiopeia just shook her head. George took the sight of the witch in front of him with a full smile and red on his cheeks.

"You look…" he tried to find words. "Very beautiful."

And she did. Her dress was the same colour as the one she'd worn to the Yule Ball, although much more simple and shorter.

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry about the whole thing with Ron."

She just gave him a smile and a wave of her hand.

"I don't care about what he thinks, George. As long as he doesn't go out spreading that I'm here, I don't care. I'm here because of you."

The redhead boy gave Cassiopeia a look full of surprise and wonder and something warm and bubbly. He was ready to say something when the two heard Molly's voice.

"Dinner is ready, kids."

They all walked into the dining room and sat at the table, the girl could feel Granger's eyes digging into her before even looking at her and she blushed when their eyes met.

"So..." William cleared his throat. "Cassiopeia. How did you and George become friends? No offence but you're an odd pair."

The blue-eyed girl hesitated, feeling every single pair of eyes on her.

"He saved me," she finally said. "I was attacked at the Yule Ball and George jumped in without hesitation. Then we started being around each other and… I guess we're more similar than different."

"Really?" someone asked, completely surprised, and she moved her eyes to the head of the table to find Mr Weasley with his eyes wide.

"She likes my jokes and inventions," George said with a proud smile. "And we like the same places."

Cassiopeia felt her cheeks warm at how sweet he spoke of her, and the boy by her side continued.

"She likes libraries and I found out they are actually not that bad."

Except for Fred, everybody froze and she and George heard as some forks and knives were dropped.

"What?!" Ronald almost yelled.

"I got the same reaction when I heard that one," Fred continued to eat as the others just stared at the two of them, which prompted his twin to look around the table.

"What?" he rolled his eyes.

"Nothing," William went back to his plate. "No problem."

No conversation was held after that when everyone finished everything, some of the brothers were left to help their mother, which included both the twins.

Someone put music on, she stood a bit far from the rest of the group and was caught by surprise when Ginny walked to her.

"What do you see in him?" she questioned bluntly.

"Beg your pardon?"

"In George. He literally spoke about you like a boy in love there at the table. You certainly have something you like in him to be here now."

Cassiopeia hesitated. She didn't like talking about feelings.

George was probably the first person in her life she never had to impress or wear a mask in front of. The girl felt free with him along with something she didn't really know what to call. It made her heart race and made her crave his presence more and more.

"He's George," the blonde girl decided. "What else is there more to say?"

She stared at the guest in silence, half surprised and half trying to find words.

"What's up?" the redhead boy questioned, standing by the Malfoy's side quickly.

"Just talking with Cassiopeia," she eyed the Slytherin from head to toe. "I'll leave now."

The two watched her walk away and George turned to his friend with a frown on his brows.

"Did I miss something?"

She shrugged. It was weird, indeed.

"Here," he offered her a cup and the girl glanced at the liquid for a moment. "Wanna get out of here for a bit?"

Cassiopeia glanced at the garden for a moment and confirmed.

"Please. What's in this?"

"Mum made some fruit juice. Are you allergic to anything?"

She shook her head and the tension left his shoulders.

"Nothing that will be actually be put in a juice," the girl assured him. "Is everything okay?"

George looked nervous, and the way he was literally using the cup of juice to buy time for his answer was one big sign of it.

"Yeah," he decided. "Did you like the dinner?"

Cassiopeia nodded.

"I did. I want to thank you actually."

His eyebrows rose up for a moment and she looked into his eyes.

"You moved all of your family just so I wouldn't spend the weekend alone. It was very sweet of you."

George shrugged with a smile.

"It's okay. It was no big deal."

Cassiopeia was ready to say something back, it was obviously a big deal but George didn't let her just as his face lit up.

"Okay, close your eyes. I have something for you."

This time, the girl complied with no questioning and George placed something very familiar in her hand.

When she opened her eyes, they fell on the rose he'd placed on her palm, identical to the one he'd given her not even 3 months earlier.

"Happy birthday."

The blonde teenager smiled.

"Oh, George..."

"I have a real gift too," he added quickly, pulling a small package from his pocket and offering it to her. "Here. Open it."

When she ripped the paper and pulled the black string, her blue-grey eyes widened. A rose quartz necklace.

"George!" she exclaimed his name once again. "You shouldn't have bought this. Don't waste your money on me!"

"It wasn't expensive, I promise!" he defended himself. "I found the quartz and I know someone, I only paid for the cord. Don't you like it?"

Cassiopeia shifted on her feet, bashful and smiling.

"I do. It's beautiful. But don't do that again," the girl insisted. "I don't care about gifts. Having you around is enough."

George's heart swelled inside his chest and he tried to hide his quick blushing by offering to help her put it on. Once he did and she turned around, she was still eyeing the pink stone against her pale cleavage and he bit his lip.

Cassiopeia looked more peaceful and happy than he'd ever seen her. She'd cracked more smiles with him this weekend than in a whole month at Hogwarts, he almost couldn't bear the fact that she would need to leave in just two mornings.

"It looks great on you," he whispered. "Everything looks great on you."

The blonde girl looked up at him, feeling her cheeks hot and George could see as her pupils were blown wide.

"You know that's not true," she chuckled.

Dang, when did they get so close?

"It is" he smiled. "I saw you when you were sick. You know how you get with a fever? Your eyes look very red, your hair was all messy and your face..."

"Shut up," she hit his chest playfully, resting her hand there. "I get it. I looked awful!"

"No," he shook his head. "You looked great. You looked adorable. You looked..." his voice fell into a whisper. "You looked..."

Cassiopeia licked her lips, moving her eyes between his mouth and his eyes while trying to process if she was understanding his clues or not. Did George really want to kiss her or was she just going crazy?

His hands touched the girl's jaw slowly and softly.

"You..." his thumb met her pink lower lip and she could feel his skin was slightly cold.

Cassiopeia closed her eyes just as he wrapped his arms and hands around in her waist, bringing her face to his, and it finally – finally happened.

Neither of them knew who was the one who moved the last centimetre that made it happen, but it happened.

They finally kissed.


	22. XXII

Fred stood on his tiptoes to watch Cassiopeia and George kissing. The other Weasley kids quickly stopped to check what he was watching and when they realised what was going on they gasped, prompting him to shush them. Nonetheless, everyone just joined him watching.

" Good for him," Bill walked out of the small crowd. "Come on, let's give him privacy."

" Privacy?" Ron exclaimed. "He's kissing Malfoy!"

" And you won't stop whining about it," Fred hissed. "George has a girlfriend and you don't like her brother. Just shut your mouth and get over it. Dad isn't a fan of her father but you don't see him saying it all the time!"

Everyone stared at the two brothers, surprised, which gave the couple actual privacy for a few seconds.

Too early for the girl's liking, George pulled away, rubbing his nose against hers and making her smile softly.

He cleared his throat and the blonde opened her eyes, giggling softly when she saw his goofy smile.

" Gosh, that was..."

" Great," he chuckled. "Really great. I mean, to me it was great. I don't know if it was for you but..."

" It was great, George," Cassiopeia interrupted him, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs. " Really great ."

He smiled openly, blushing.

" Oh man, we should have done that before," he laughed. "Can we do that again? Regularly?"

She raised her eyebrows at him in surprise.

" You want to make things regular?"

He nodded fiercely.

" Well… I wouldn't kiss you if I didn't want you as my girlfriend, right?"

The Slytherin opened and closed her mouth, too surprised to say anything for a moment.

" Yes!" she shouted, finally, then lowered her voice. "Yes. Of course. Yes."

" Yes," George, nodded. "Okay. I'm your boyfriend now."

Cassiopeia smiled just as he seemed to process the news.

" You're my boyfriend now."

George stared at her and chuckled.

" Oh my… That makes you my girlfriend! You're my girlfriend!"

She laughed, holding his hands in front of the two of them.

" I'm your girlfriend, George."

He turned to the door, seeing everyone watching, and her cheeks reddened when she realised what they were doing.

" Guys, she's my girlfriend!" he shouted. "Fred, do you hear that? I got a girlfriend before you. I got a girlfriend before everyone in this family! I got a girlfriend before Bill!"

Cassiopeia squeezed his hand to bring her now boyfriend and his attention back to her.

" Okay, George. We all got it. You can calm down now."

He blushed deeply, pulling her in once again to give her pink lips closed pecks.

" I'm just excited," he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sorry. It's just… You're my girlfriend. I'm so happy."

She only smiled at him.

" I know," the blue-eyed girl rested her small hands on his chest. "But… Calm down. Please."

The two walked inside with him holding her small hand when she noticed Ginny staring at her brother with a smirk.

" What?" he looked at her.

" You didn't beat Percy."

George's face changed to surprise and then grumpiness.

" Oh, man… Almost there!"

" George," she turned to him. "Don't be so competitive."

He chuckled, pulling her with him so she'd follow his lead.

" Come here," he whispered.

George kissed his girlfriend once again, ignoring when his younger brother made gagging sounds.

" Stop kissing the poor girl so much, George," Bill laughed. "Her lips are gonna fall right off this way."

Everyone laughed and Cassiopeia felt her cheeks burning up just as her boyfriend blushed down to his neck.

" Shut up," he muttered, moving his face away from hers, still holding her hand while he sat down and pulled the girl with him like before. "You want anything?"

The girl was about to answer him when Molly showed up with biscuits on a plate.

" Here, dear," she almost shoved them in her face. "Take on. It's chocolate chips."

She gave her an awkward smile.

" Thank you, ma'am," she said, picking one up.

She hesitated a bit – trying to sit like the proper lady she was supposed to be – but George's hand squeezing hers made Cassiopeia's focus change to him.

" We won't judge you for resting your back on the couch," he whispered with a smile. "I promise."

She blushed again and George chuckled, pulling her in and giving her lips another peck.

Well, he certainly liked to kiss her.

" Go on," he released her hand and put his arm behind her shoulder. "I'm all yours, Cas, and I promise I won't bite."

She rolled her blue eyes and looked around hesitantly, but no one seemed to be watching them.

" Okay," the girl sighed. "Fine."

The blonde teen shifted in her seat until she found a way to lean down, and rested part of her body comfortably against George's.

Merlin, that was weird .

" See?" he smiled, smugly. "All good."


	23. XXIII

" But I want you to stay with us," George insisted, holding Cassiopeia's hand outside the house. "Can't you just stay? Maybe lie or something?"

" I really need to go," she reminded him. "And you're moving into another place, George, I don't want to be another addition to that mess."

But her boyfriend just continued to look at her with dramatic sadness.

" Come on, George, it won't be long. School is back in September. You survived so far, you can survive a few more weeks."

" You weren't my girlfriend back then," he tried to sound sad, but just came out as overly dramatic and whiny . "And we won't even be able to be around each other that often, we'll be hiding from people all the time."

" Don't be a cry baby, George," his twin gave his back a soft pat. "We don't want the whole Malfoy family looking from her in here. Cassiopeia has to go."

Her boyfriend nodded, sighing with his shoulders completely sagged. She'd already said her — very awkward — goodbyes to everyone inside and he was the only one left.

" Bye, then," he smiled sadly, hugging her once again and kissing her lips softly. "Let me know when you're home."

" Okay," the girl reached for her broom. "Goodbye."

He watched silently as she assembled her things, magically putting everything inside an expanded purse that crossed her thin body and rested just on her front, and took off. The redhead boy just stood there until she was out of his reach, just then turning to find his family waiting by the door.

" What?" he blushed.

" You're in love," Ginny said slowly. "With Malfoy."

He rolled his eyes.

" I thought you were over that already."

His sister shrugged.

" It's been just a day. And it's weird," she pointed. "Don't blame me for reacting like a normal human being."

He just ignored her but stopped when the next words reached him.

" She seems to like you," Ginny said. "And a lot."

George was a bit surprised but didn't let it on, only smirking and shrugging.

" I know, right?"

. . .

Cassiopeia had been attentive to plan her trip back home up to its smallest details, which included stopping to buy a set of bracelet and earrings to pass off as a birthday present from George and his family, and landed on the yard of the Malfoy Manor as silently as she could.

With a flight shorter than she'd actually informed her mother, she'd left the Burrow much later than she said she would and took a route that assured she would land from the correct direction.

The girl had time to put her broom with the others before your eyes fell on her mother and she came to hug her quickly.

" Cassiopeia!" she sighed as soon as her arms were around the girl. "I've missed you so much."

" It was just three days, mum," teen squeezed her tightly.

" I'll have a bath and a meal prepared for you," she held her hand and glanced at your side just as the house elf took her purse. "And you'll tell me everything."

Forty-five minutes later Cassiopeia was sitting on her bed with her mother folding her clean clothes to put them back into place.

" They have a little house in the South of France," the girl lied. "I got to share a room with his sister."

" Does he have a big family?" she enquired, turning for a moment.

" Two brothers and a sister, he is the second born."

She hummed a confirmation.

" They didn't have a guest room?"

" Not there," Cassiopeia looked in the window's direction. "But it's okay. It was like being with Eleanor."

That seemed to sparkle something in her mind.

"Can't forget to invite Eleanor for your birthday dinner," she pointed, more to herself than to you.

" Dinner?"

Narcissa turned to her daughter after her words, looking rather surprised and annoyed with her tone.

" We are a family. It doesn't matter if you spent your actual birthday away, we will celebrate it together."

The teen didn't protest, and the older woman stopped her activity when her eyes fell on the bracelet and earrings she'd bought.

" I haven't seen those yet," she noticed, bringing the velvet box where they came in together closer to her eyes. "They are beautiful."

She touched the pieces carefully.

" Did he give you this?" she questioned, but didn't even left time for her daughter to answer. "You've always looked amazing with sapphires, they make your eyes look very blue."

" I know," she resisted the urge to touch George's actual present hiding inside her clothes.

She took the earrings from the box and put the girl's clear blonde hair behind her ears before putting them on them, distancing herself to see the results.

" Beautiful."

Cassiopeia only smiled, and her mother put the pieces where the rest of her jewelry was stored, returning to the clothes in the suitcase.

" Go on, dear. Tell me more. Did his mother like you?"

Cassiopeia hesitated, not even knowing the genuine answer to the question.

" I'm still unsure," she decided. "She was very lovely but I had a feeling I was being studied."

She chuckled.

" Well, that doesn't surprise me," she held up a smile. "She'll certainly love you soon enough," Narcissa mother assured her daughter. "You're a good girl from a good family and with lots of talents. You're nearly perfect, sweetie."

Cassiopeia gave her a genuine smile.

" You're saying that only because you're my mother."

" I'm saying that because I know how this boy likes you," Narcissa corrected her. "Don't worry about it, darling."


	24. XXIV

Cassiopeia adjusted her dress, running a hand down slowly right where it tightened at the middle of her thin waist and flowed down elegantly. It was a black model in velvet with dark grey lace, and her wrists and ears were decorated with the sapphires Narcissa had loved so much on her daughter.

The blonde girl fixed her hair carefully and put on the high heels that made her as tall as Draco.

The Malfoy Manor had been emptied from the previous guests and only a few people were there; just her family, Draco's two friends – Crabbe and Goyle -, just a few of the closest Slytherins from school, like Nott and his family and others, Eleanor and her family, and some cousins the two girls shared. Cassiopeia's grandmother Druella was the oldest sister of Eleanor's grandfather, so their friendship ran deeper than any other. She could only be carrying the Black and Malfoy names, but she were a Rosier just like her nonetheless.

"Cassiopeia!" Eleanor walked to her friend as soon as she stepped into the room. "You look so gorgeous. Are those the sapphires you mentioned in our last letter?"

"Yes," the blonde girl looked around. "I take it you like them?"

She gave her friend a knowing smile.

"I do, indeed. Your _friend_ has a great taste, but _mine_ is much better, obviously."

Cassiopeia let out a laugh, feeling the tension leaving her body. It was good to see Eleanor.

"Come on. You need to see my gift."

She pulled the blonde girl to the corner of the room, where the presents were piled up, and took hers right from the top.

"Open it," she pointed. "Go on."

The Malfoy girl glanced at her side, but complied anyway, finding a perfume bottle and a velvet box that clearly held a necklace.

"I remember you said you wanted this perfume but couldn't find it anywhere," she pointed. "So I may have taken a trip to find it for you."

Her grayish eyes widened and Cassiopeia turned to her with a shocked expression.

"Please, tell me you didn't travel all the way to Germany for a bottle of perfume," she said in a disapproving tone. "Eleanor, I could have had it shipped from a store."

The brunette shrugged.

"I needed to make sure it would arrive safely. And I found the necklace there just as well and bought some shoes, look," she pointed down and the Malfoy glanced at her feet. "Pretty and comfortable."

Cassiopeia shook her head, but reached out for the jewelry box, finding a ruby necklace. It was no surprise. Her family always gave away the most extravagant gifts. When she was born, her Aunt Bellatrix had given Lucius and Narcissa their daughter's weight in galleons for 'good luck', and did the same with Draco two years later. On her first birthday, Bella had given her god-daughter diamond earrings she still had up to this day – they were quite heavy for a child but fit perfectly now.

"Thank you," the blonde girl reached out and held her hand. "Thank you. You shouldn't have, but thank you."

Eleanor rolled her eyes, waving dismissively with her hand before picking up a glass of wine from a tray a house elf was carrying, and Cassiopeia took the liberty to do the same. The two girls were just _now_ legally allowed to drink, but it didn't mean they'd never done so before; that happened since they were around 15 at their house parties.

Cassiopeia was looking a bit forward to this party. She hoped she could have fun and enjoy it like she did every time, but something was clearly missing. Even dinner didn't taste as good, and her mother had had her favourite dishes prepared.

When it was over and music filled the room, the girl couldn't help but space out while Eleanor talked about what seemed to be some guy she met in her trip to a fully wizard town close to Berlin.

"Cassiopeia?" someone waved a hand in front of her eyes.

"Yes?" the girl turned, finding Draco and Eleanor staring at her face.

"And she is not dead," her brother chuckled. "I was asking you if you wanted to dance."

The tall girl turned to glance at the room, quickly noticing how some people had engaged in a dance, which included her parents and the Rosier themselves.

She couldn't say no, and was soon holding her brother's hand and twirling around the room among the rest of the people, with him smiling at her sweetly. Cassiopeia felt her heart aching slightly inside her chest. She absolutely hated lying to Draco, but it was needed. He would understand one day.

Their parents, however…

Cassiopeia hoped they understood. She _really_ hoped they did.


	25. XXV

"And you must be Cassiopeia," she heard an overly sweet and thin voice from just a few steps from, and quickly raised her head from the potions book in her hands.

Cassiopeia and Draco were just a few days away from starting school and everything was ready for when they did so, from her robes to anything else she'd need for the rest of the year.

Standing by the door, a short woman dressed completely in pink stared at the teen, looking far too interested and smiling _too much_ for the girl's comfort.

"Yes?"

Cassiopeia stood up as soon as her father entered after her, and the woman walked in her direction.

"Cassiopeia, this is Dolores Umbridge," he introduced the two. "She works in the ministry and is working at Hogwarts as Inquisitor for the next year."

A bit confused, the teen just raised her eyebrows.

"Oh?"

"The ministry is very concerned with the direction the headmaster is taking Hogwarts to, you certainly understand, Cassiopeia. He has been spreading terrible lies around and that is scaring some people. We are afraid that those lies can be extended to the students and he may cause some unwanted phenomenon."

She just nodded slowly.

"I see your point, ma'am."

With Cedric Diggory's death, Harry Potter had swore his life to the fact that You-Know-Who was back – something that Dumbledore had backed with no doubt, but no one else did, and the two had been discredited in every single possible way by the Ministry of Magic and the media. Honestly, if Cassiopeia didn't know the truth from her parents' themselves, she'd disbelieve them just as well seeing how many proofs had been fabricated to show they were wrong.

"I've heard great things about you, Cassiopeia," she said in an overly sweet way, and the blonde girl couldn't help but feel uneasy at how she pronounced her name. "It will be a great pleasure to have such an intelligent and beautiful young lady like you there for when I need a reminder of what I'm there to do."

The blue eyed girl forced a fake smile, crossing her hands a bit in front of her body, trying to put some distance between the two of them discreetly.

"I'm sure it will be a pleasure, ma'am," she affirmed. "I'm looking forward to it."

She nodded to the girl and an elf entered before the conversation could become even more awkward.

"Sir, ladies," she said submissively. "The tea is served."

. . .

Cassiopeia fidgeted with her skirt while listening to Umbridge's words, unable to tear her blue eyes from her figure.

She had told George about their encounter and – as far as the girl knew - he had already passed the news to his friends before the woman showed up, and Granger was rightfully worried.

With Umbridge in a position of such power in Hogwarts, things were about to get very complicated.

If the Malfoys _disliked_ muggles and muggleborns, Umbridge didn't just hate or despise them, she preached their death!

According to sidetalk Cassiopeia heard, she was single because no one could take being beside her for more than a few hours; as everything about her was utterly annoying from her voice to her personality.

"You're not gonna eat?" Eleanor questioned, and the blonde girl shook her head to try and clear her mind when she realised she was still staring.

"Yeah," she moved a hand to grab a fork, glancing back at the new member sitting with the teachers for a moment before moving to serve herself.

"Is everything okay?" Sarah – a girl from the 7th year – questioned. "You've been weird since you arrived."

Cassiopeia turned to her for a moment, a bit confused, but soon found an answer in her head.

"I'm tired," she decided to lie. "I didn't sleep well this week."

"She has a French boyfriend now," her cousin jumped onto the conversation. "And now that she is here, they won't be able to see one another until Christmas."

"Eleanor!" Cassiopeia reprehended her cousin.

"What?" her friend frowned. "It's the truth."

"She spent her birthday with him and his family," Draco said nonchalantly, turning to his sister. "And came back home all smiles."

His older sister just raised her eyebrows at him. She didn't even know he knew about the boy story, she had only told it to their mother and to Eleanor.

"His mother invited me," the Malfoy girl affirmed before anyone could make assumption. "It's not that big of a deal."

Draco turned fully to his sister.

"Not that big of a deal? Mum was looking into wedding dresses for you and places you could get married in, and whether or not they'll be free in three years."

She stared at her brother with her greyish eyes wide and pinkish lips slightly gaped.

"Wait, what?"

What in Merlin's sagging balls actual was he talking about?

"Well, if you're officially together now and he takes around 12 to 18 months to propose, then she'll only have 12 to 18 months to plan your wedding," Eleanor agreed. "You need to have the place booked for at least two years. She's just being logical."

Cassiopeia tilted her head to the side, still unable to fully process their words. Finally, she shook her head.

"You're insane," the girl decided. "And I don't know if I'm gonna spend Christmas with his family. He didn't invite me."

"He will," her best friend cut a piece of pie. "Trust me. He definitely will."


	26. XXVI

"Outstanding in every single test," George said proudly, taking a glance at Cassiopeia's potions book at the end of the library. "You're a genius. You're like… Hermione, but cooler."

The girl shook her head.

"I'm a Malfoy," she said slowly. "I couldn't have it any differently."

He turned to his girlfriend with a frown.

"What? Really? Like… Really, _really_?!"

"My dad would kill me if I got an ' _Exceeds Expectations',"_ she pointed. "I can't even think of it."

George just watched her for a short moment.

"I don't know why I'm surprised," he confessed. "Your father is…" he cleared his throat awkwardly for a moment.

"Very exigent, yes," Cassiopeia noted.

"That's one way to put it."

The girl rolled her eyes, turning the page. Professor Snape was also very exigent with his students, and she had a class with him in less than half an hour, which was the reason the girl was giving the first chapters a quick reread to be prepared.

"You know, Fred and I should have earned 'E's' in all of our O.W.L.'s. We showing up already exceeded the expectations."

Cassiopeia giggled.

"I haven't had the time to mention," she rested her elbow on the table before reaching with one of her hands to mess with his red locks. "I've noticed that you changed your hair."

He gave Cassiopeia a smile that was half sad and disappointed and half mischievous.

"Well, mum was about to shoot me with an unforgiving curse if I didn't get it cut," he joked. "It's a bit of a change. It's not like I was trying to grow it or something."

The girl watched his face silently and rubbed his cheek with her thumb.

"You didn't want a haircut, did you?"

He looked around a bit, shrugging but looking rather annoyed anyway.

"Not really."

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged again and Cassiopeia went back to her book. She'd already read the book when at home, she could just close it and spend the time with George.

"Are you done?" her boyfriend questioned, almost as if he'd just read her mind.

"Yeah," she closed the book in front of her. "I'm done."

He watched her silently, looking like he was thinking if he could or not say something.

"Yes, we can kiss if you wanted to," Cassiopeia encouraged as she smiled at him.

George relaxed visibly.

"Okay," he chuckled. "I was a bit afraid. I mean, it's… We're dating and all, but I don't know if we can do stuff or the stuff we can do. I never had a girlfriend before."

The teen just smiled at her boyfriend and leaned in, laying a peck on his lips.

"Just ask," she whispered. "Really."

He gave Cassiopeia a large smile and pulled her up, making her drop her books onto the table before pulling her into one of the darkest sections.

"George!" she let out a whisper. "Where are we going?"

He didn't answer, but before Cassiopeia could ask again, George walked the two to a wall, making her shiver all over.

"Oh," she gasped.

He gave her a bit of a hopeful look, and Cassiopeia felt her cheeks red and hot.

"Can I…" he whispered. "Uh… You know?"

The teen nodded gently, and her boyfriend cupped her jaw before kissing her lips. Soon, the peck became a full tongue kiss, and George's body quickly came to press against hers, which made her lose her breath just a tiny bit. How come she just realised how the six years of Quidditch had shaped his body? Cassiopeia could feel the way his arms and torso were actually more defined than what she had first assumed, which was a bit surprising.

Cassiopeia had completely melted into his kiss when a noise brought her back to reality.

"George," Fred called from somewhere far from them, and her boyfriend jumped away from Cassiopeia's body with his brown eyes wide. "George?"

Cassiopeia walked away from him, fixing herself and getting right back to where she'd kept her books.

"Sup, Cas," the redhead smiled to the girl. "Where is my brother?"

"Which one? You have five."

He chuckled, raising his eyebrows in a bit of surprise.

"Well, he is…" she looked around. "Over there. I gotta go to class before people notice I'm gone."

"Okay," he nodded. "Bye."

He watched as Cassiopeia almost ran out of the library, and stopped to look at where his brother had just emerged with his face completely red and his hair a bit messy.

"You're blushing, she's flushed…" Fred noticed, looking at George's face for a moment. "Did I interrupt something?"

His twin's ears reddened to match his face.

"I'll tell you later."


	27. XXVII

"A return to basic principles," Cassiopeia read on the board.

Umbridge's approach to Defense Against the Dark Arts was a ' _return to basic principles'._ A bloody return to basic principles?! For Merlin's sake, how old did she think they all were? Eleven?!

Her father had once asked why she studied Defence Against the Dark Arts, and she didn't really have an answer for it. She wasn't aiming for any type of job that needed her to be a graduate in the subject. Up until lately, she didn't enjoy having _free time._ It made her antsy. Also, Cassiopeia had entered the class when younger, and she never left anything unfinished, but this… this was stretching it too much. _That_ with Umbridge was _fucking torture._

"I'm out," Cassiopeia said to Eleanor, grabbing her stuff just as the woman opened the book in front of her.

Before she could call her name, the blonde girl was out of the room.

Cassiopeia used the free time to finish her transfiguration homework and catch up with charms, hoping her decision in Umbridge's class didn't come back to haunt her. To no surprise, it did, and rather quickly.

"Good afternoon, ma'am."

Just as Cassiopeia was getting ready to leave for lunch, Umbridge made a turn in the corridor and locked eyes with her.

 _Amazing._

"Miss Malfoy," she said with a smile that only sent bad shivers all over her spine. "Just the young woman I wanted to see."

Cassiopeia tried to mirror the same smile, holding it on her face.

"I can't help but notice you walked away from my class this morning. Was there any problem with it?"

The teen's eyebrows shot right up for a moment, but she soon fixed her posture.

"No, ma'am. Quite the contrary."

She waited silently for what the girl had to say in her own defence, and Cassiopeia cleared her throat.

"I just realised that my plans for the future do not require a deep understanding of defensive magic, and the time could be used for further studying other subjects," she said slowly. "Insisting on the class would be a waste of not only time but resources, not only mine but especially yours."

The last word made her expression change to surprised.

"You have so much stuff to do, ma'am, so many responsibilities. I don't want to be another one of them."

Cassiopeia didn't know if the answer was satisfactory, but she couldn't bear to be around the professor. A whole school year with her was _hell_.

"Of course, you're right. It's good to know you're focused on your future, Cassiopeia, dear."

The way she said her name almost made her cringe _again_.

"Of course, ma'am. There's nothing more important that it. Now, if you'll excuse me."

. . . . .

Professor Snape was doing an amazing job at ignoring the woman behind him writing down whatever she thought was important about his class, and Cassiopeia was trying to do the same.

"Are you gonna put someone's hair in that?" she heard someone whispering by her side, making the girl turn her head to her side before covering the cauldron with the _amortentia_ they were all brewing in the week's class. "Or blood."

By her side, Roger Davies was standing with a smile that was supposed to be flirtatious but didn't do more annoy her.

"No."

He took a breath, seemingly discouraged for a moment, but followed her to her cauldron – which happened to be beside his.

"So, _Cassiopeia_ ," he watched as the blonde girl check the temperature of the elixir in front of her. "I heard Honeydukes has some new special editions pasties, I think they are made of mint and chocolate."

"I'll sure check them out when I have the time. Thank you."

"Actually, I thought we could…"

The Malfoy raised her hand when her eyes locked with Snape's, and he turned his body fully to her direction.

"Yes, Miss Malfoy?"

"I believe I'm finished, sir."

Umbridge followed the potions master silently and merely glanced at an embarrassed Davies while her work was carefully analysed.

"Amazing success, Miss," Snape announced, and the woman behind him approached the cauldron to give it a look. "You can bottle it up and leave."

"Thank you," Cassiopeia nodded politely, turning to Davies. "If you'll excuse me now."

"Of course."


	28. XXVIII

Cassiopeia froze in her spot when she reached the turn in the library and came face to face with Potter.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned quickly, almost taking the words directly from her pinkish lips.

"What-" she started, but was quickly interrupted.

"It's okay," Ronald stood up. "Harry, that's George's girlfriend."

The green-eyed teen's eyes widened.

"What?"

When the girl looked behind him, she quickly recognised her boyfriend's younger brother and his best friend, and the girl gave them a polite nod that was returned.

"It's a long story," she decided. "Your friends can explain it better than me."

He just continued to stare at Cassiopeia, flabbergasted, and the girl held her books closer to her chest.

Her table was just two shelves away, and she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with people lurking around her.

"George is sitting there waiting for you," Ronald continued. "I think he needs help with transfiguration."

Cassiopeia nodded, still feeling stiff.

"Excuse me."

The girl found her boyfriend reading the transfiguration book with a frown and his eyebrows furrowed, but his face lit up as soon as he raised his eyes and saw her.

"Cas!" he smiled. "You came."

"I always come," she sat by his side. "And you're always surprised when I do."

He blushed, scratching the back of his neck.

"I guess I still can't believe I got you as a girlfriend, then," he smiled. "So, have you gotten around the Partial Transformation Spell? Cause I'm really lost here and Fred is of no help."

The two proceeded to spend the following hour like that, finishing her homework for the night, and George turned to her with a curious look and half a smile on his face.

"Did you really leave Umbridge's class this morning?" he enquired. "And without losing any house points?"

"I did, yes," Cassiopeia nodded. "I mean, I only did Defence Against the Dark Arts because it was an interesting class and turning to a stupid book isn't gonna be really that interesting. And I really dislike her, so why insist?"

His face lit up with a surprised smile.

"My girlfriend is so badass she walks away from a class with no damage," he said proudly. "Man, I'm so lucky."

She just laughed.

" _Silly,"_ she rolled her eyes and he leaned forward.

"But you like me, right?"

Cassiopeia followed the gesture, staring right into his eyes.

"I do," she whispered and laid a peck on his lips.

"More than your French boyfriend?" he asked with a wicked smile.

She let out a short laugh. Well, apparently he'd heard the story.

"Way more than my French boyfriend."

He kissed her lips again and shifted on his seat.

"Cas…" he said slowly. "You know we don't judge one another, right?" he questioned in a whisper.

The girl nodded.

"And I know we keep some stuff from one another," he continued.

"Yes."

Her boyfriend looked into her eyes for a moment before averting his gaze.

"Is Harry right?" he muttered. "Is You-Know-Who back?"

She distanced herself from him for a moment, standing up and walking to a shelf.

"I'm sorry," George quickly stood up. "I'm sorry, I won't bother you with that. It was stupid of me bringing it up."

"Yes," she interrupted him, turning in her boyfriend's direction.

George stopped in his place for a moment and rushed to her side.

"There's a reason why my mother wanted me out of the house during the summer. Their visitors are not friends."

He stared at Cassiopeia, his face a mixture of sadness and fear.

"Honestly, the only reason I'm not freaking out right now is because I'm at Hogwarts, but I don't know what I'm gonna do after the school year is over. I don't want to go back there."

George's mouth opened and closed for a moment.

"But you just have to stay away from them when you go back home," he said like it was obvious. "It's simple."

Cassiopeia shook her head.

"It's not. They are trying to lure me in, to make me join them."

His brown eyes widened just as he ran in her direction, and soon George's hands were holding her by her elbows.

"You can't do that!" he exclaimed. "You just can't!"

"I know," the girl braced herself. "I'm just afraid. I'm… more than afraid, I'm terrified."

Cassiopeia felt his arms surrounding her body, and George kissed her forehead protectively. His embrace ended suddenly, though, and he looked at her with a face of someone who'd just had the most brilliant idea.

"Come home with me for Christmas."

She frowned.

"What?"

"Please," he insisted. "I have to talk to my parents, but I have an idea."

The girl bit her lip.

"George, I don't know..."

"Please," he insisted. "Trust me. Just trust me."

The blonde girl stared at his face, still unsure, but sighed.

"Fine. Okay. I'll go with you."


	29. XXIX

Cassiopeia had dodged everyone to get into Hogsmead, hiding from Eleanor, Draco, and every Slytherin who could possibly reveal to them her location, and was now heading to the pub George had indicated to her. He was outside, looking around, clearly searching for his girlfriend.

Just a few days earlier her boyfriend had questioned if she'd be up to learning Defence Against the Dark Arts from someone who _knew_ what they were doing; not with books, but with real life experience, highlighting that if she really wanted to stay away from the Death Eaters and be able to defend herself, she needed to be there. The girl was hesitant at first, but she trusted George, and after he'd promised her that he'd find a way to help her with her home situation, she couldn't say no to him. That was why she was there.

"Am I late?" she questioned.

"Everyone just got in, come on."

Cassiopeia followed him in silence, closing the door behind herself and holding his hand as he guided her to a small room. Potter, Granger, and Ron only gave the two a look, but many looked behind their back with the widest eyes.

Cassiopeia could recognise various students from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw – which was no surprise – but none of Slytherin, but she wasn't very shocked with that.

"I saved you two a seat," Fred announced, pointing at two empty chairs by his side. "Hi, Cas."

"Good afternoon, Fred."

On his other side, Lee Jordan had his eyes and mouth open wide.

" _That_ 's the girlfriend?" he questioned loudly, and the teen wondered if that was what everyone was thinking. "Dude… Your brother is dating Cassiopeia fucking Malfoy?"

Ron let out a snort.

"You'll get used to it."

Cassiopeia sat down, ignoring his look, and George quickly moved his hand to hold hers on her lap. When she looked at her side again, Jordan was still staring.

"Do you want a picture? It will last longer."

That made him close his mouth.

When Granger started talking, she knew the meeting was a bad idea. The girl was stuttering, muttering, and looked unsure herself of what she was doing, until…

"Because Lord Voldemort is back."

There were mutters and whispers, and someone managed to yelp while other just looked straight at Potter, most of them shooting daggers.

"And where's the proof?" some blond Hufflepuff questioned, aggressively.

"Dumbledore..." Granger started.

"Believes in him," she pointed at Potter. "We deserve to know why _he_ thinks You-Know-Who is back."

Then Potter began to speak. He spoke about what he saw and what he experienced, but things went south from that.

"George, are you sure..."

"Is it true that you can produce a Patronus?" someone asked, and her eyes shot right back to their direction. "A corporeal Patronus."

Cassiopeia listened closer. Apparently, he'd done so. He'd also killed a basilisk and saved the Philosopher's Stone from The Dark Lord's hands. And there was the TriWizard Tournament, of course. She couldn't deny, he was _good_ at whatever that was he was doing.

They all agreed to a meeting a week but things got tense when a list was brought up. What if it was found? Everyone would be severely punished.

"I have some hiding spells," she raised her voice, then raised her chin when she felt the eyes on her. "I can make the list snoop proof."

Granger was surprised with her words, but soon agreed on accepting Cassiopeia's help with the spells on the parchment. When everyone lined up to sign it, there was a weird feeling in the air.

"Full name?" the girl arched an eyebrow to Granger.

"First and last are okay."

 _Cassiopeia Malfoy._

The last person signed up and the blonde girl pulled out her wand, muttering the same spells she had used on the diaries carefully.

"There you go," she gave the parchment back to Granger. "Absolutely safe."

The younger witch stared at her for a moment, rather unsure of how to react, but nodded not long later.

"Thank you. I'll contact everyone soon."


	30. XXX

The Decree didn't stop the students from meeting, and the group now had a name. D.A. - Dumbledore's Army. The first meeting was a success, and the following was already scheduled.

Cassiopeia couldn't lie, she was feeling excited and happy with the whole 'DA' thing. She had learnt spells she never thought she would be able to do, and was actually happy.

"Are you gonna cheer for me in the game?" George enquired.

The two were in their usual hiding spot, with him leant onto the closest wall and Cassiopeia between his spread legs.

"You know you'll be playing against my brother, right?" the blonde girl arched him an eyebrow. "And my house."

He nodded a bit and shrugged.

"Well… You see. I'm your boyfriend. You certainly like me more than you like him," he teased. "Right?"

Cassiopeia chuckled. There was no need to dive into that rabbit hole.

"You should go," she pointed. "You start Defence Against the Dark Arts in ten minutes."

He pouted but gave her cheek a kiss before leaving his girlfriend's side and soon after Cassiopeia sat back, returning to her stud. Her next class – one George and Fred would also attend – would be Transfigurations and she was still unsure she could perform the Advanced Conjuration Spell perfectly. The girl had set a pile of books on the other side of the library, and wouldn't rest before bringing all of them together. Cassiopeia left when she heard the bell, quickening her pace to get to the classroom, but stopped when a cold hand caught her elbow.

"Cassiopeia!"

Eleanor's green eyes were as big as two plates glued together, and her skin looked paler than ever. It was like she's just seen her own ghost.

"Elea-"

"I need to talk to you," she pulled the blonde girl along with her to a corner while other students entered the classroom just a few steps from you, and George and Fred stopped a few steps away from the two, with her boyfriend staring and giving the two Slytherin girls a worried look. "It's very urgent."

The Malfoy frowned, opening her mouth and closing it for a moment, confused.

"What's wrong?" the blonde girl enquired.

But the brunette didn't answer. The line of students had finished entering the classroom and they needed to get inside.

"Meet me after class. It's really important."

She moved away from her friend, but Cassiopeia held her hand.

"Are you okay?"

The dark haired girl stared into her friend's eyes for a moment, green irises filled with fear and underlying desperation.

"Just meet me. Please."

"Okay."

She entered, leaving her with her jaw a bit slack.

When Cassiopeia turned her eyes to the two redheads in front of her, her boyfriend had taken a small step forward.

"Is everything okay?" he whispered, looking worried.

The grey-eyed girl nodded quickly, moving into the classroom and earning just a glance from McGonagall.

"Let's get started."

* * *

Cassiopeia played with the cord around her neck nervously, rubbing her palm against her thigh while waiting for Eleanor to show up and quickly stood up as soon as her friend entered the room.

The two were alone, and she rushed to sit down by the blonde's side behind the recliner.

Eleanor hugged her cousin tightly, resting her head on her shoulder.

"Cassiopeia…" she whispered.

Everything crossed Cas' mind at the moment. Maybe someone had hurt her or something bad had happened to someone in her family. What if her father was taken to Azkaban? No… Narcissa would have sent her daughter a letter already if that was it.

"What happened?" she questioned when the brunette sat back on her heels.

"My father sent me a letter," she said with a cold face. "He said they waited too long already, time enough has passed. I'm an adult."

Cassiopeia frowned. She was an adult for a long time now. What was the big deal with it?

"They said I should follow..." she breathed deeply, her voice returning filled with distress. "That I should follow the family steps."

"How?" the blonde girl questioned, but she already knew where her words were taking them to.

"The Dark Lord wants to meet me," she whispered, only loud enough for Cassiopeia to hear. "They want me to become a Death Eater."

Cassiopeia took a long breath, feeling her chest hurt. The Malfoy girl was not surprised. Her father had given her the choice to stay away but she didn't know how long his patience would last.

"What are you gonna do?"

Eleanor just looked into her friend's grey-blue eyes.

"You already know," Eleanor reached out, holding her hand tightly. "Cassiopeia, I was raised for this. I know every spell, we know every spell. We know how to do things, we know what's right, we know He is right. He's the best choice. How can I say no? How can we say no?"

The blonde girl swallowed hard, keeping her face neutral. She wasn't lying.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to," Cassiopeia reminded her friend. "You know that, right?"

She felt her eyes green digging into her own, and the brunette cousin bit her lower lip.

"What about you?" she questioned. "Wouldn't you say yes?"

The tone of her voice and the underlying implications made Cassiopeia shiver.

"I thought we were talking about you, Eleanor. When did this turn into a conversation about me?" 


	31. XXXI

"Cas? Cassiopeia?" she heard, turning to George silently and finding that her boyfriend was staring at her.

"Yes?"

"I was talking to you," he said like it was obvious.

"Sorry," the girl looked down for a moment. "I spaced out. Do you think Eleanor knows something?"

He turned to her with a frown, suddenly becoming worried.

"What do you mean?"

Cassiopeia took a deep breath.

"There was something in her eyes," she buried her face in her own hands for a moment. "I don't know. I… I don't know. But they are pressuring her, how long until I'm the one being pressured into making a decision?"

The red haired boy didn't answer, and she took a long breath.

"What if my father heard something about us?" she whispered. "Maybe… I don't know," Cassiopeia rubbed her temples. "Merlin, I hate not knowing things."

George crossed his arms, almost hugging himself.

"I know," he muttered. "But do you remember what you told me when you got better from the black cat flu?"

She turned to him, confused, and he walked to his girlfriend.

"If you father ever found out about us, he would take you the furthest away from me he could. I would never, ever , be able to see you again."

Her shoulders relaxed. Maybe he was right, she could be overreacting.

"Come here," George whispered, pulling his girlfriend closer and caressing her face with his thumbs in the same way the grey-eyed girl did to him whenever he was stressing over something. "You're gonna be fine."

Cassiopeia couldn't help but soften up at his touch and caring words.

"How are you so sure?"

He stared into her eyes for a moment and shrugged with a small smile.

"You see, I got this really smart girlfriend, a very nice Slytherin girl. And I would do anything to protect her."

The girl chuckled, and he licked his lips for a bit.

"Can I kiss you?" he whispered, and Cas nodded with a tiny smile.

The Gryffindor laid a peck on the tip of his girlfriend's nose, then on her chin, and then on her lips before pulling away and staring into her eyes once again.

"Relax. Everything is gonna be just fine."

* * *

"Are you okay?" Cassiopeia heard by her side and turned to look at Draco.

It was lunchtime, and while everyone was chatting and interacting, she was eating silently.

"Uh?" the girl turned to him. "Oh, yes. I'm fine."

"Really?" he questioned, sounding worried. "Sorry to say but you look a bit like crap."

The girl chuckled, shaking her head a bit.

"It's the whole N.E.W.T.s stuff," Cassiopeia said, not fully lying and yet not telling the truth. "I got a lot to study and lots of magic to go through and things like that."

Her brother gave her a small smile.

"Anything I can help with?" he offered.

Oh, Draco.

"Unfortunately, I don't think so," her sister sighed. "It's mostly things I have to deal alone."

He went back into silence, and Cassiopeia played with her soup with her spoon, finding it to be too now cold to consume.

"Are you going home for Christmas?" she changed the subject.

"Yeah. Are you?"

The blonde shook her head.

"I'm going to France," she lied.

"It's a good break, then," he noticed. "Do you need anything from home?"

"Mum sent me some clothes and stuff I can take there, but I'll let you know if I need anything," she gave her brother a smile, but it died quickly. "Did she or dad talk to you about anything?"

The Slytherin teenage boy shot his sister a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

Cassiopeia shifted on her seat.

"Anything out of the ordinary,"

But Draco shook his head.

"Why? Did they write about anything weird to you?"

She denied quickly.

"No. I was just asking."


	32. XXXII

" You can practice in pairs," Potter announced. "First, the Impediment Jinx and then Stunning again."

George pushed up his sleeves, exposing part of his forearms just as Cassiopeia tied her hair up and away from her face.

" Hey, Malfoy," her boyfriend called, and she just knew he was about to pull a bad pun. "I don't think we need to train the second one, cause I already get stunned any time you look at me."

Several people sniggered, rolling their eyes, and Cassiopeia chuckled, shaking her head in denial.

" Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're cute, Weasley."

He gave her a large smile, one of those she absolutely loved seeing.

" I don't expect less than the best from my girl."

After 10 minutes of the Impediment Jinx, Potter got the cushions and spread them, and the group got ready to start with Stunning again. Right off the start, to many people's surprise and erupting a great deal of pride from his girlfriend, George had managed to throw her all across the room with a swing of his wand.

" Are you okay?" he questioned, running in the girl's direction and offering his hand so she could get up.

" You're great!" the blonde gave him a smile, taking the offer, and was surprised to see what was over the two.

" George, look."

A mistletoe.

The redhead complied, chuckling while he helped her get on her feet.

" Shall we?" he leant a bit in her direction, and Cassiopeia took his face in her hands, kissing him gently.

George put his hands on the sides of her waist, but the two didn't have more than a couple of seconds before someone called them out.

" Get a room, you two!"

The blonde rolled her eyes, moving away from her boyfriend just as he blushed crimson.

" Go find a girlfriend and get off of my ass, Smith," she snarked back, unaffected, and smiled sweetly to George. "We can kiss more later."

* * *

The next morning, Cassiopeia woke up with a message from George in her diary stating his father had been injured and that he would explain more himself when the time allowed, later, asking her to keep it a secret, but the girl knew that already.

When Christmas break came around, the Slytherin had to meet Granger and a pink haired girl she remembered from her first years in Hogwarts in a bathroom in King's Cross and Apparated into a street she knew too well.

Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was where Cassiopeia Black Malfoy had spent part of her younger years when her grandparents were still alive, and it had the same dark and creepy air around and inside it as she remembered, but got her just ultimately confused.

What was she doing in there?

Before the blonde could ask the pink-haired woman, though, she was engulfed in a hug just as soon as her feet stepped into the place.

" You're here," George said against his girlfriend's neck before releasing her.

" Yeah," she nodded. "George. This… This place..."

" Belongs to the Black family, yes," a man moved to her front.

Cassiopeia didn't need two looks to recognised him. Sirius Black.

" George and his mother were very insistent on bringing you along with Hermione," he continued. "When I was younger I thought my family would never surprise me again but there you are, doing so," he noticed. "Cassiopeia Black Malfoy, aren't you?"

" Exactly."

He nodded slowly.

" I'm Sirius Black, your first cousin once removed," he offered her a hand to shake. "You already met Tonks. She is the daughter of your mother's sister, Andromeda, you probably have heard about her. Although Narcissa and Bellatrix may have been hiding her existence just as well."

" They tried but I know about her story. And I've seen Tonks in school."

I just didn't know she was family.

"Cassiopeia !" Mrs Weasley walked into the room. "There you are!"

" Hello, ma'am," Cas said politely. "It's very ni-"

" George told us about your parents and what they are trying to do to you," she interrupted the girl. "Didn't take much to convince the others you need help, especially Sirius and Tonks."

Her greyish eyes moved to the man but he said nothing.

" Thank you."

" Molly," the group heard someone calling, and she glanced over her shoulder.

" Come with me, dear. There are some people who need to talk to you."


	33. XXXIII

When Cassiopeia entered the room, her pink-haired cousin , Mad-Eye Moody, Professor Lupin and a pair of other people she didn't know were sat around what used to be the dinner table, staring straight at the girl in a way that made her shiver.

" Miss Malfoy," her former professor – the one who actually taught at Hogwarts— said slowly.

Cassiopeia tried to keep her head up and her posture tall from showing how uncomfortable she was with the whole situation.

" Sir."

The door closed behind her, and Sirius walked in, sitting with them just as Mrs Weasley came to his son's girlfriend side.

" Is this really necessary?" she questioned, resting a hand on the girl's back. "Alastor, she's just a child!"

" She's old enough, Molly," Moody hissed. "Sit down, Malfoy."

Keeping her face clean and neutral, the girl complied.

' Tonks ' put a glass in front of her silently, but the girl didn't move her eyes from the group.

" Drink. We have some questions."

The girl didn't protest, chugging the content down in seconds. It was juice, but Cassiopeia knew it was spiked.

It didn't take more than a few seconds for them to start bombarding her with questions.

" What is your name?" Tonks enquired.

" Cassiopeia Black Malfoy."

" If you weren't named Cassiopeia, which name would you have?"

" Vega," she blurted out, remembering a conversation she had had with her mother once, when she told you the ideas of names she had for you and Draco. "Or Libra. My mother wanted it to be a constellation name, it runs in the family."

" When is your birthday?" Sirius questioned.

" 13 th of August."

Something inside Cassiopeia was wrong and she could clearly feel it. She wasn't thinking, she couldn't hold her words back or even filter them.

" What are your parents' names?"

" Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. What is wrong with me?"

Moody stared into her eyes, finding the grey irises to be moving from face to face in the room.

" That's what a truth potion feels like. Why did you tell George Weasley your father recruited you?"

Cas tried holding back the full honest answer but it didn't work, and the words came out of her lips without any permission.

" Because I trust him and I tell him my secrets, and I was scared of what that means. I still am."

Everyone became silence and the blonde felt as Mrs Weasley walked behind her.

" I think that's enough."

" Why did you come here?" Lupin asked.

" Because once I say a definitive 'no' to my father, there will be no place to be in the world," the teen felt tears pricking from her eyes, filled with embarrassment. "And George said he would do anything to protect me, and if that means coming here and asking for your help, then so it be."

Cas' breath was coming hard, and her face stone cold as sweat mixed with her tears. She was trying to fight. They were invading her space , they were trying to break her . She just couldn't let that happen.

" What about the Order?" Tonks tapped lightly on the table.

But Cassiopeia just felt confusion, staring at her cousin.

" What Order?"

Everyone fell back into silence, and Mrs Weasley coached the girl into standing up.

" That's enough," she held the girl and the teen felt like she was about to get sick. "Come on, dear. You look like you've seen your own ghost."

" Why didn't you join the Death Eaters?" Sirius Black enquired before his young cousin could leave the room.

She turned to her head to him with the coldest look she'd probably ever given anyone.

" Sirius!" Molly said in a disapproving tone.

" Anyone who preached death to their own people has some deep problems, Sirius Black. I love my parents, and I love them enough to understand and accept they are not perfect and can be wrong. And they are wrong," she said coldly. "I may be cold, or put myself first, and all of the things you see as wrong in a Slytherin but I have pride, but I have principles. Most of us do."

" Come on," the woman pulled her son's girlfriend with her. "Interrogating a child… What an overreaction! Poor girl!"

The two left the room together, and before Mrs Weasley could sit her down on the couch, George popped onto his girlfriend's side.

" Are you okay?"

" I'm gonna get sick," she answered frantically, trying to keep her breath steady.

" Is that normal?" her boyfriend asked, confused and worried, while pulling his wand. " Accio, can."

An empty trash can came to his hand, and he was quick placing it in front of his girlfriend and moving a blonde lock to behind her ear.

" It's an emotional reaction," someone said behind him and Cassiopeia could identify Granger's voice. "Kinda."

The grey-eyed girl glared at her and the younger witch shifted on her spot.

" The potion causes a lot of distress and she is clearly fighting it. That's how Malfoy's is reacting to all of that."

George turned to her and then to his girlfriend again.

" So we just have to get her to calm down?" he sounded less worried.

" Essentially."

He sat by Cassiopeia's side, holding her hand, and the girl soon felt the pulling on her body before apparating in another room.

There were two beds made there, and the girl quickly noticed her stuff closer to one of them. He put her on it, leaning down and helping his girlfriend out of her shoes while she took off her jacket, still feeling her stomach twisted in knots.

" Do you know how long the potion works?" he questioned shyly.

" More than a couple of hours if they got it from someone decent," the girl spat before losing what was left of her breakfast in the can in her hands.

He hesitated, sucking his own lips in and scratching the back of his head.

" Can I ask you a question?"

" I hope it's not the combination of my safe, or how my first kiss went."

George chuckled.

" Nothing like this," he rolled his eyes. "I, uh… Why me?"

She just stared at him in confusion.

" Why do you like me? Why do you date me? We're so different and, still, we're together! Why did you choose me?"

" But I never chose you," Cassiopeia looked into his eyes. "You chose me."

Her boyfriend's face changed in confusion.

" I did?"

He nodded gently.

" You smiled to me first, you held me first, you saved my life… You were there before I even knew you were there, you chose me before I knew it."

He continued to stare at her.

" Really?"

Cassiopeia nodded silently.

" You could have said no if you wanted to."

" Why would I?" the girl said frankly. "You were the first guy ever who made me laugh, and you never expected anything from me. I can be myself and you'll never expect anything from me, I can be myself and you'll never be disappointed. Even if I'm wrong or I don't know any better, you're there to teach me how to be a better person with empathy and an open heart."

To that, George smiled, blushing all over his face and neck.

" And I like when you do that," she pointed shyly. "You look absolutely adorable when you're embarrassed and when you're doing something you love or even talking about it - your eyes start shining like two huge stars."

George blushed even more and his girlfriend reached out to caress his cheek with her hand, feeling how hot his skin was in comparison with hers.

" And your hair is amazing. The colour, the texture, the way it falls on your face..."

He shook his head, smiling more and kissing her palm.

" Okay."

George got up silently, sitting on the other side of the bed, and the two of them laid on the mattress hesitantly. When both their heads were rested on the single pillow, he moved his hand down and held her, lacing their fingers together.

Cassiopeia's heart – which had slowed down while the two talked – started racing again while the two remained silent side by side. They'd never been that close – physically - , especially lying on a bed. The long twin mattress didn't leave space enough for her and George to fit comfortably, which left the two of them completely squeezed against one another.

" Would you have told me all of that if you hadn't taken the potion?" he whispered.

" No," Cas without thinking, although knowing that her truthful words hadn't come from the potion, but the way they came out had. "Not at once, at least."

Her boyfriend took a deep and long breath.

" Okay."


	34. XXXIV

Cassiopeia woke up a bit confused, looking around trying to piece together her environment when George's hand – still tightly holding her – brought back the memory of just hours earlier.

"You're awake," the girl heard, instantly jumping and bumping into George when doing so.

Standing up beside the other bed in the room, Tonks was looking at in couples' direction. "Dinner is ready."

The blonde ran a hand on her hair, yawning.

"Thank you."

George was shaken awake by his girlfriend's moving, and just a couple of minutes later – after some teeth and hair brushing – they joined the others in the dining room.

Cassiopeia could feel some stares but chose to ignore them, and silently thanked Fred when he pointed to the seats he'd saved for his twin and his girl.

After everyone served themselves and some awkward silence the conversation started flowing, she finally took a moment to glance at Mr Weasley. He looked very pale and debilitated, the girl could see clearly, but probably better than ever before.

The next morning, everyone started putting up Christmas decorations and Cas felt a bit of a lift on her spirit. She has always loved putting things together for the celebration and it seemed to be something the other people present shared just as well.

Later, even Potter – who'd been hiding in his room, apparently – came out to see what they'd done, and the Malfoy girl felt a bit of pride when his eyes gazed for a while at the fairy lights she'd spread on the wall carefully. When the day ended, the house was unrecognisable. George kissed his girlfriend goodnight, something the others were getting used to and kinda ignored by now – and when she finished getting ready to sleep, the bed beside hers finally had someone laying in it.

"Good night," Tonks said politely, tucking herself while Cas did the same.

"Good night."

But 15 minutes later, she couldn't sleep. Her greyish eyes were wide open, and her mind was running fast.

"Are you awake?" the girl heard from the other side of the bedroom.

"Yeah," Cassiopeia muttered. "Can't stop thinking of some stuff."

She remained silent for a moment, but soon spoke.

"Like what?"

"Like how we've never even talked to each other," the blonde pointed out. "And I was never interested enough to try and find out what happened to my aunt. I mean… we went to the same school together at a point and I didn't even know we were cousins."

"I did," she said, to her surprise. "I knew a bit about your mother and Bellatrix, and that included you and your brother."

The Slytherin felt embarrassed.

"So," she cleared her throat. "Do you resemble your mother a lot? Physically, I mean?"

Tonks stayed silent, and Cassiopeia finally realised what she'd just said, and the two cousins just started laughing together.

"I mean, I can change into her if you want it, but I'm more like a changing individual depending on the moment."

Cassiopeia covered her own blushing face with her hands for a moment in pure embarrassment.

"What about you?" she questioned.

Cassiopeia nodded to herself.

"I hear that I look a lot like my mother," the young girl confessed. "Some people say it's like watching the past through a window."

Silence filled the air for a moment.

"That must be a bit haunting."

The young Malfoy shifted on her mattress.

"My grandmother… our grandmother always called me Cissa," she told in a low voice after correcting herself. "She forgot a lot of things as she got older. No one even thought of correcting her, so I just went along with it."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Cassiopeia sighed. "She made the elves cook my mum's favourite dishes and we even played her favourite games."

Suddenly, she heard Tonks moving.

"Did you play 'Little green hiding witch'?" her cousin exclaimed.

"If I catch you, you turn lime green!" the girl did the same. "Oh, Merlin, I loved it! Sometimes mum played with me and Draco, she always let us win."

Tonks chuckled.

"I wanted to play it at Hogwarts," she told Cas. "But I didn't know the spell to turn people green, I just knew how to undo it."

Cassiopeia moved her head to the direction of her cousin's voice, frowning a bit, but smiling.

"It's the same spell," she said with a small smile. "Cast it on the first person and clean it off of the last."

"Really?" the Hufflepuff sounded surprised.

"Really."

The woman embraced silence for a moment, and she heard as she fell back on her bed.

"I could have had a cousin like you as a kid," she muttered. "It would have been nice."

"Yeah," Cassiopeia sighed, laying back down. "I think so too."


	35. XXXV

Cassiopeia groaned against her pillow when loud bangs on the door woke her up. The girl had spent the whole night talking to Tonks and had only fallen asleep maybe at four or five in the morning.

"Wake up," she heard outside. "It's Christmas!"

"It's also too early," she groaned. "Go away."

Instead of complying, the person only entered the room, and the witch instinctively kicked the direction when hands tickled her sides.

"Bloody hell, woman!" George cussed loudly, moaning in pain and the blonde sat up quickly, recognizing her boyfriend's face behind his hands. "I didn't know you had fighting skills!"

Cas stood up, reaching for his wrists.

"George! Merlin, are you okay?" she said, pulling his hands from his face, seeing his nose red and bleeding. "Don't sneak up on me like that! What were you doing?"

He groaned.

"I just wanted to surprise you!"

"You certainly did!" the teen pulled her wand from under her pillow, fixing his broken nose quickly and summoning the closest cloth to clean up the blood. "Don't do that again!"

The couple heard a chuckle and turned their heads to its direction, finding Tonks casually putting on a robe over her pajamas.

"Good morning, fighter. Happy Christmas."

Cassiopeia looked down at the foot of her bed and felt confused. She only expected George's gift to be waiting for her, but the pile clearly had six presents.

"Who are those for?" she questioned her boyfriend.

"Uh… I think they are for you. But it's just a guess."

Cassiopeia side-eyed him, and approached the pile with hesitance, ready for it to explode on her face.

On the very top, she could see George's name and raised her eyebrows at him.

"Go on," he gave her a shy smile. "Open it."

"It's not a Pygmy Puff, is it?" the blonde-eyed girl enquired without opening it. "George, we both know..."

"You don't have time to take care of a Pygmy Puff," he interrupted her. "And, let's be honest, I'm the only one who will get your cuddles."

She chuckled, finally opening the gift and smiling a bit when she recognized the pink magic fireworks.

"Well?" she glanced at him.

"We're gonna light that up later," he promised.

"Okay."

The following gift was Fred's, with a sappy Christmas' Card that made her smile, followed by a book from Granger and a pair of freshly knitted socks from Mrs. Weasley – which the girl imagine had come from her complaining to her boyfriend about always forgetting to get thicker socks.

The girl froze when she reached the second last gift.

"What is wrong?" George questioned.

"Uh… It's from the Tonks'. The whole family."

He made silence for a moment, and the two just stared at each other for a moment before the blonde opened said present. It was a bottle of perfume.

"It's nice," her boyfriend said when she sprayed it on her wrist. "Smells good."

"Yeah," Cas shifted on her place. "It's nice."

But he knew better than that.

"What is it?" George enquired.

"They got me a gift," she girl crossed her arms, rubbing her own skin and trying to comfort herself. "I mean, I've never seen two of the three in my life and they still got me a gift."

George walked to his girlfriend in response, putting his hands on the sides of her waist.

"Well, that means they want something with you," he affirmed. "Tonk's mum is your aunt, after all, and Tonks is your cousin. That's a bridge, right? They are trying to get close to you."

Cas nodded a bit.

"Still feels weird," she whispered.

George chuckled.

"You need to get used to people being nice to you," he pointed. "Affection isn't bad."

The blonde bit her lip in response, embarrassed, and he kissed her cheek not a second later.

"Just write them a letter," he suggested. "I'm sure they'll be happy to be hearing from you."

Cassiopeia nodded once again, and George leaned closer to give her rose lips a peck which reminded her of a single detail she seemed to have forgotten to do after getting up.

The girl covered her mouth with both her hands in a rush.

"I haven't brushed my teeth!"

In response, her boyfriend just laughed.

"Go on."

Cassiopeia almost jumped into the bathroom, making sure her mouth smelt fresh and herhair looked its best before getting back to her room, and George grabbed her hand before she could even put a second foot inside, kissing his girlfriend passionately while hugging her with a single arm.

When he stepped back, her blue eyes were open wide and she could feel her face burning deeply.

"Happy Christmas!" he smiled.

"Happy Christmas," she managed to say and looked behind her back at the door. "Let's go down to breakfast, I'm starving."

He was about to leave the room, but they both stopped when she held his elbow, noticing the last gift on the foot of the bed.

"There's one left," Cas pointed.

He stopped to wait for her, and the girl knelt down to lift the green large box with Sirius' name on top and unwrapped its paper gently. Inside, there was another green box, this time made of velvet, and that made the Slytherin frown.

Why would Sirius give her something that came in a velvet large box?

Cassiopeia opened it carefully after glancing at George and almost dropped it when she caught a glimpse of what was in front of her.

"Bloody Merlin!" she yelped.

Inside the box, there was a set of circlet and earrings made of Sapphires and studded diamonds.

That was definitely not something she was expecting out of a gift.

"I need to talk to Sirius."


	36. XXXVI

Cassiopeia ran down the stairs so fast she even forgot she was barefoot and didn't even care when everyone turned to her in confusion when she jumped into the room. When she came face to face with her cousin, though, she had no actual words.

"How?" the girl managed to let out. "And why?"-

Everyone stared at them in full confusion, but Sirius just laughed.

"Uh… You're welcome?"

The blonde girl nodded slowly.

"Thank you," she corrected herself. "But I keep my questioning."

Her eyes moved to his side when Potter moved to listen closely to their conversation.

"I didn't go out of my way for your gift, don't worry," he affirmed. "Your grandmother gave my mother that set as a wedding gift and I think it will fit you much better than me, dark blue is really not my colour., but it makes your eyes pop."

Cassiopeia just continued to glare at him and only turned to her side when George tapped on her shoulder.

"Honey, close your mouth."

The girl complied, shutting her lips, but that didn't change how he'd just blown her mind for a moment.

"Take it as an… Early wedding gift," Sirius said with an amused tone. "Based on how quick his parents got married, I don't think George will want to waste any time with you."

With this, Cassiopeia felt her cheeks burning and move her eyes away, quickly noticing how George's face was absolutely red in embarrassment.

"Are you hungry?" he said out of nowhere. "I'm hungry. I'm gonna eat."

Her boyfriend practically ran out of the room, leaving the cousins. When Cassiopeia's blue eyes caught Tonks, though, she used the opportunity to go to her.

"Hey," the blonde walked to her first cousin. "Thank you. For the gift, I mean."

"You're welcome," the woman smiled. "My mother picked it herself. She really put effort on it. And my father told me to send his regards."

The blonde gave her a small smile.

"Send mine right back to him. And I hope your parents have a very Happy Christmas."

Tonks only nodded in response and walked to the kitchen, finding a group of people having breakfast and sitting down along with them.

"Good morning, darling," Mrs Weasley smiled as soon as she saw her son's girlfriend. "Did you sleep well? Are you hungry?"

George sat by her side before she could respond. She couldn't help but noticed how the older woman's eyes were red and puffy, and how she seemed very tense, but knew better than to ask any questions.

"Yes, ma'am," the blonde girl said politely to her. "I also loved the gift. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Cassiopeia giggled when George nibbed on her neck, tickling her sides. This time she wasn't kicking him, though; they had found themselves a moment alone, and things had progressed to the point she was completely curled on his lap, with her long legs over the armchair's side and his arm holding her side tightly against him.

The girl let out a soft sigh when she felt her boyfriend's teeth biting very slightly on her pale jaw on its way and squirmed on his lap.

"George!" she protested a tiny bit, not asking, however, for him to stop or anything.

"Uh?" her boyfriend hummed in response, unworried, reaching her earlobe and licking it in a very teasing way.

Cassiopeia turned to him, and George was quick to catch her lips in a kiss.

Soon enough, she had her hands holding him tightly by his thick red hair and his right hand climbing her thighs. To be honest, she didn't really mind when his hand landed on her hip, and only kissed him harder when he squeezed her with the very same hand.

"Not on my couch!" the two heard Sirius' voice echoing through the room and Cassiopeia jumped out of George's reach quickly, standing up and fixing her top. "George, everyone is getting ready to visit your father, go catch up with them."

The girl felt her cheeks burning up and hid her face in her hands while her boyfriend ran out of the room.

"The rest of us are having tea," the man affirmed, giving her a stern look. "Are you coming?"

Cas stared at him for a moment, but cleared her throat and ran her hands through her blonde hair, trying to fix it.

"Give me a minute and I'll be there."


	37. XXXVII

Cassiopeia relaxed a bit on her chair when Kreacher left her group alone in the room. She was sitting in the kitchen with both her cousins and Professor Lupin, and she didn't know where Moody had gone, but it made her a lot more comfortable. Somehow, the girl almost felt like she were with her family.

"I have a question," Sirius said after they all served themselves. "We all do, but I'm the only one brave enough to do so."

Cassiopeia glanced at Tonks and Lupin, but they didn't say anything, and she shrugged anyway.

"Well, ask away."

"How did you end up with George?"

The blonde girl chuckled. She wasn't surprised, seeing by how she'd heard that from almost everyone who knew about the two of them.

"It's a bit of a long story," she said slowly.

"We're listening," Sirius grinned. "I've been curious since I heard about you two."

She shifted a bit on her seat.

"Last year, last Christmas to be more exact, we had the TriWizard Tournament at school," she reminded them, feeling Lupin's and Tonks' eyes on her. "And there was this guy and he was my date to the Yule Ball."

"I'm gonna suppose that was not George," her former professor pointed.

"Definitely not George. He was from Durmstrang, he was Krum's friend and about to graduate, though I'm unsure if he actually did."

They all raised curious eyebrows at that, and she continued.

"He was my date and we had a nice night up until a point. We ate, we talked, and we danced. And then he wanted me to show him Hogwarts."

Her older cousin frowned, muttering something under his breath, but didn't interrupt the girl.

"He attacked me in the gardens, we had a very physical fight because I didn't have my wand with me and I'm unsure if he had his," Cas tried to keep her voice in the same tone that she had started, but couldn't really hide her discomfort. "When I thought I had lost, George showed up and helped me. And then professor Snape showed up and took care of the boy while George walked me back to my common room. We became friends after that and one thing led to the other, and we started dating in the summer."

Sirius nodded slowly.

"Do you know what happened to the student who attacked you?" he questioned, sounding genuinely concerned.

Cassiopeia hesitated.

"I heard he was taken care of," she said slowly. "But that's all."

They fell into silence, and the Hufflepuff by Cas' side cleared her throat when it became clear no one else would say anything.

"Well, you two are a really nice couple," she decided. "You look happy."

The blonde girl bit her lip.

"I feel happier," she replied, feeling her cheeks warming up and reddening. "George is very nice, he's one of the best people I know, I'm really thankful for what he did and what he still does."

She gave Cas a small smile.

"You get those eyes when you talk about him," she noticed. "That's good."

Cassiopeia blushed more but chose to ignore it.

"Don't be embarrassed," Tonks reached for a biscuit and looked directly at Lupin's face. "Love is nothing to be less than happy about."

The girl took a breath, a bit confused.

"Okay," she said just over a mutter. "Thank you."


	38. XXXVIII

"Do you have to do this here?" Fred complained. "Right in front of me?"

They were in the room the twins shared, and this was their last day of Christmas break. After the couch incident, the couple had become a bit more handsy than before. No one except for Sirius had caught them, but the next morning George shyly informed her that the two of them wouldn't be allowed in private rooms alone anymore. Furthermore, if they were together in any other room, the door should be completely open, so they had no real privacy. With all that, Fred ended up being the one who sat with the two in places with the door closed such as where the three were right now.

"Well, you're free to go," her boyfriend raised his face from where he was placing light kisses in Cas's neck while she read a book, sitting on his lap.

"You know I'm not," his brother rolled his eyes. "If I go, mum will yell at me right back in here again. Or worse, she'll come to sit right where I am, and she won't be nice with you two being all lovey-dovey and over each other like now."

Cassiopeia felt her face warming up and looking in his direction with a gentle smile.

"Thank you for being so nice and staying with us, Fred. You are a great friend."

To that, his face lit up with a grin.

"See, George?" he pointed. "Your girl has manners."

George only laughed, holding her close to his body.

"She's really great, isn't she? I hit the jackpot!"

She just chuckled, rolling her eyes and suppressing a soft giggle. She wasn't _that_ comfortable around Fred.

"I don't want to go to Hogwarts," George said with a sigh, losing the glee in his eyes. "I think it is the first time I feel like that in my life."

The blonde girl understood him perfectly. With Umbridge there, their lives were pitiful and adding it to the fact Cassiopeia and George couldn't be around one another as much as they wanted only made it worse.

"It's just a few months," she reminded them. "We will survive."

The two boys fell silent, causing her to turn to her boyfriend.

"Come on, George," she insisted. "It won't be so bad."

"We both know it will," he insisted.

She hesitated.

"Okay, I know it will," she took a breath. "But it's our last year, and I know that as soon as we graduate we will be alright."

They tried to protest, but the sound of steps climbing the stairs made the two stop and her to stand up. She wasn't sure of who was there but knew very well that Mrs Wealsey wouldn't be happy to see how she and George were sitting.

Cassiopeia had just sat on the bed when the door opened, and the three of them looked in her direction.

"Cassiopeia, dear," her boyfriend's mother stepped in. "Are you busy? Sirius wants to talk to you in private."

The teen frowned but put her book aside.

"Of course, ma'am."

Cassiopeia followed her out of the room, glancing back at the two boys behind herself before closing the door.

"Is there anything wrong?" the blonde girl enquired.

"I'm afraid he's the only one you can ask," she answered, in no way easing her nervousness.

She walked Cassiopeia into the library, where Sirius was sat, and left the two of them alone.

She walked to him in silence and the man smiled when he saw her.

"Cassiopeia," he sounded relaxed. "Sit down, have some tea."

The blue-eyed-girl complied, reaching for the tea at the small table between the two of them.

"I have a confession to make," he put his cup away. "I invited you here with some other intentions than tea."

She sat straighter, not as nervous as before but both curious and a bit hesitant.

"When Molly told me about you, I saw a bit of myself. The kid who went wrong on his family and decided that he wouldn't be as hateful as them and took a totally different turn in life; met some people that were different and learned the truth about life," he chuckled. "I wanted to see you up close, to spend time with you and see if you were what who I imagined. That's why I invited you to spend Christmas here."

The girl kept her silence, still watching him, and Sirius reached for the plate between them.

"Biscuit?" he offered.

Cassiopeia took one and took a bite, but didn't move her eyes from his figure.

"You are different than I thought," he pointed. "But that's not bad. You are also in a situation I never saw myself getting into, with your parents and the whole… Death Eaters thing…" he said slowly, trying to be sensitive. "Molly told me how afraid you are of going home, and I cannot blame you. That's why I'm here to say that you don't have to go back home after Hogwarts."

She frowned.

What was he saying? If she didn't go home, where would she go? Cassiopeia had no job guaranteed and the only money she had was closely controlled by her parents.

"When school is over I want you to live here."

Her eyes widened and the girl's jaw dropped.

"What?"

He smiled openly, probably amused by his cousin expression.

"You won't need to worry about finding somewhere to stay or how to pay for food or basic needs. Kraster is still good at cooking and you are in the family tree he adores so much. I even think my mother's portrait will stop complaining so much about you around. She liked Cissa, and you resemble her a bit. The most important thing is that you will be safe in here. I promise that."

But she still couldn't believe what he had said.

"Live here? Are you certain?"

"Absolutely."

She opened and closed her mouth, making her cousin laugh.

"It's okay, kid. You don't have to say anything."

"Thank you!" the girl exclaimed. "Thank you so much."

Not thinking, she launched herself in his arms, surprising both of them for a moment before Sirius squeezed her.

"Don't worry, kid. That's what family is for."


	39. XXXIX

Cassiopeia closed her eyes when George caressed her cheek, and gave his lips one last peck.

"I'm gonna miss being that close to you," he whispered, ignoring everyone looking at them. "I guess I'll see you around the corridors."

She nodded softly, and her boyfriend stepped away from her.

"I have to go now," the blonde looked around the group. "I can't go with you."

Still a bit awkward and embarrassed, she walked to Sirius and gave him a short hug, which her uncle reciprocated, and did the same to Tonks right after.

"Thank you for having me here," she said to her oldest cousin, then turned to the rest of the group which whom she had spent the holidays. "And thank you for Christmas."

"You are welcome, dear," Mrs. Weasley gave the girl a gentle smile. "Be careful."

"Yes, ma'am."

The blonde pulled her wand from her pocket, apparating into an alley close to King's Cross with her luggage, and making sure to hide it before grabbing her chest and walking into the station.

Cass only came close to seeing George and the others when they were all already sat and eating, while trying her best to provide Eleanor with details of her alleged trip to the South of France.

"The sky was very blue in the morning and it was very sunny," Cassiopeia lied. "And some days were warm, but some others could be pretty cold, so our activities were very variable."

Her friend sighed.

"I wish I had someone to invite me to the South of France," she said, a bit sadly. "Instead, I get Roger Davis asking me to be his Valentine's date."

The blonde girl frowned, turning to her best friend in confusion, and the Rosier seemed to realise she'd left something out of the conversation, smiling openly in excitement.

"Oh, we're having a Hogsmeade trip right in Valentine's day. Isn't it nice?"

She nodded a bit, but didn't smile back at her.

"Well, I hope you have fun."

Eleanor furrowed her brows.

"And you're not gonna show up?" she looked confused. "It's Valentine's Day!"

The blue-eyed girl sighed.

"Exactly. What do you want me to be doing out there? Spending Valentine's Day alone because you don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend is completely different from spending it alone because you and your boyfriend can't be together."

Her face changed from surprise and confusion to empathy and sadness, and the brunette by the Malfoy's side rested her elbow on the table.

"Sorry. I forgot that," she muttered. "It must suck for you that he is so far away."

Cassiopeia sighed, trying hard not to look at where she knew her boyfriend was, watching from Gryffindor's table to hers.

"Yeah. It does."

When Cassiopeia turned to Draco, her brother seemed to be looking at her in silence for what felt like more than a short time.

"Do you wanna walk around or something?" he offered. "We haven't had the time to talk."

The girl glanced around herself, but he was already standing up, and she had no choice but to follow him. When Cass reached her brother, he offered her his arm, and guided her outside the Great Hall.

The two Malfoy kids walked silently for a while, until Draco stopped and turned to look at his sister's face.

"I'm gonna ask you a question and I want you think about what you're gonna answer," he said slowly, not in an accusatory tone, but in one of nervousness.

"Alright."

"Why are you hiding your boyfriend from us?"

The blonde girl took a breath.

"Draco…" she sighed out. "I…"

"I know he is from Hogwarts," her brother continued. "I know you haven't gone to France since we last visited it, I know you sneak around Hogwarts at night to see whoever this guy is, and I know there is some reason you don't want us to know him."

She felt her body tense, and rubbed a hand over her own face, trying to find words.

"He is no exactly what mum and dad would want for me," Cassiopeia crossed her arms.

Her brother's lips pressed in a thin line while she tried to find a way to give as little information as possible about George.

"Does he mistreat you? Is pressuring you to…"

"No," his sister shook her head. "No, never. He's an amazing person. He treats me like a princess!" Cassiopeia opened a smile, but it died soon after. "But he's not…"

"A Slytherin," her brother finished her sentence.

She nodded.

George wasn't a Slytherin, nor from a rich family, nor someone who believed in blood supremacy. He was everything her family was repulsed by and, worse than that, in their eyes he was a _Weasley._

"I don't want to disappoint them," Cassiopeia muttered.

This time, her words were true. She was bracing herself for the moment she'd need to turn her back to her parents and Draco, but she knew it'd arrive eventually.

"Or you."

Draco just stared at her face, and breathed deep, trying hard not to break down.

"Draco, he is the only person in my life who I know is not involved with…" Cassiopeia stopped her own words. "He is the only place I can look at and know I won't have You-Know-Who's shadow over my shoulder."

To that, Draco swallowed hard.

"What about me?"

She shook her head.

"I can't drag you into this with me," the blonde girl pointed. "And I can't let anyone think that I need you there to make my decisions, I want you out of this, do you hear me?"

Draco frowned.

"I can talk to father, I can try and…"

"I mean what I said," you interrupted him. "I want you out of this."

Her brother felt silence for a moment until finally breaking the space between the two of them and wrapping his arms around her thin frame. He was taller than her now, and she knew he'd be just as tall as her father.

"Do you know what you're doing?" he questioned, a bit strained.

She didn't. If there was one thing Cassiopeia didn't know was what she was doing, but she couldn't say that to him. So, the blue-eyed girl moved away from him and smiled, touching his cheek with her right hand.

"I always know what I'm doing, little brother."


	40. XL

Cassiopeia's heart and head were equally pounding while she walked through the corridors, ignoring how the students around her opened a large space for her to walk by, clearing the way.

She found Draco walking in what looked like the direction of the Great Hall, and didn't waste time before pulling him aside to where there was a tree stump.

"What…"

She continued to guide him until they were alone, and threw the newspaper on his lap before looking around, assuring herself no one was watching them.

"Read the list," she tried to keep her tone calm. "Look at the last person."

Draco complied, and only needed a short glance down before looking up at his sister again.

The memories and photos they had of their aunt Bella showed a woman much more beautiful than what the Daily Prophet was giving them, but she was still the same person.

 _Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted for the torture and permanent incapacitation of Alice and Frank Longbottom._

Their mother's sister and another nine Death Eaters had escaped Azkaban in a mass breakout.

"Are we supposed to do anything?" her brother whispered. "Are we supposed to say anything?"

You sighed.

"We're teenagers, Draco," she reminded him, rolling her blue eyes. "We just… Wait and see what is gonna happen."

Sirius was right. Cassiopeia couldn't just go home after Hogwarts. Her Aunt Bella loved the Dark Lord above anything and anyone in her life, even more than her life _itself,_ and everyone who didn't align with her was considered an enemy, regardless of being family or not.

Draco tapped his foot down, nervously.

"Do you think she's going to our home?" he questioned, only loud enough for the girl in front of him to hear.

She shifted on her feet, crossing her arms.

"Would you go to my home if you broke out of Azkaban?"

He frowned, giving his sister a look.

"As long as you weren't the one who put me there, yes. I don't think there's anyone else I could turn to."

Cassiopeia reached out and squeezed her brother's hand, a bit touched by his words, but also feeling guilty. She'd leave, but she couldn't have Draco leaving with her, not while he was still at Hogwarts and not while she was under someone else's protection.

The girl had a plan. George and Fred had asked her to work with them once they opened their store, and she'd get a house with her salary. She only needed two bedrooms, one for herself and one for her brother, and if all of the Weasleys could share a bathroom, they two could do the same too with much less inconvenience. The living room and the kitchen didn't need to be separated, and she could put a table and two chairs somewhere so they could eat there. It wasn't as spacious as the Malfoy Manor but it would be temporary. She'd find a way to get the comfort they both were used too in no time once the business progressed.

"Do you remember what I told you the night we came back?" the girl questioned, approaching him slowly, until she was standing right above him.

Draco nodded slowly.

"I do."

"And what was it?" Cass questioned.

He opened a small smile.

"That you always know what you're doing."

The girl nodded, mirroring his smile.

"I always know what I'm doing," she repeated. "Do you trust me, little brother?"

Draco nodded again.

"Say it," she whispered.

"I trust you," he affirmed. "Why are you asking me that?"

"I'm gonna need you to remember our conversations soon," she sighed. "And remember that you trust me, okay?"

He looked into his sister's eyes, blue staring into blue, probably looking for whatever she was hiding, but finally confirmed.

"Okay."


	41. XLI

Cassiopeia chugged down on a glass of water, watching as Eleanor dolled up in front of the mirror, feeling antsy but holding it back. A month had passed, and she still wasn't excited about Valentine's Day, not even close to that, honestly. Her friend, on the other hand, was trying her best to look perfect for her date.

She didn't trust Eleanor, not as much as she did once. She could still remember her green eyes staring at her and her pale face while she squeezed the blonde and questioned her over whether she'd join the Dark Lord once they both left Hogwarts or not. Cassiopeia loved her best friend, but she could no longer see her the same way since then.

"How do I look?"

"Amazing," she opened a smile. "You're going now?"

"Yep," she gave a spin in front of the mirror, grinning. "Are you sure you're not coming?"

"As a heart attack," the blonde girl confirmed.

Her dark-haired friend let out a sigh but picked her purse up in the same cheerful manner she had spun just a moment earlier.

"Wish me luck."

"Good luck."

Cassiopeia watched silently as she left, and went back to her book, but her reading didn't take much time, as she was quickly pulled to the diary she shared with George. Waiting for her, there was a message from him. 'Meet me in the Room of Requirement' She frowned but looked around for a quill. When she didn't find it, she got off of the bed. She was decently dressed, so there was no reason not to go.

The common room was empty, except for a couple of first years that seemed to be studying, and no one paid any attention to her or her way. The corridors were even emptier, and she found herself in the Room rather quickly.

When the girl reached it, the door opened to her before she could think of any request. Cassiopeia entered with a frown, and George was standing inside with a very formal posture.

"Madam," he said slowly, trying to keep himself serious, and the girl rolled her blue eyes.

"I knew what I was getting into when I said yes to dating you, Weasley," she pointed.

"No need to try to impress me."

Her boyfriend chuckled and rolled his eyes, but followed Cass' words, all the same, going back to his usual standing.

"What are we doing in here?" she questioned.

He seemed surprised for a moment.

"It's Valentine's Day, have you forgotten?" he pointed. "We might not be able to go outside and shout out from the rooftops how in love we are but that doesn't mean that I can't treat my girl with a nice… "

He walked behind a wardrobe standing in the middle of the empty room and pulled something from behind, exposing it to her eyes rather proudly.

"… Picnic," he raised a picnic basket similar to the one he'd taken with him when the two had gone out together during the summer holiday. "See, I know this is no graveyard, but it's the best we can have."

Her face softened in a smile and the blonde walked to George, cupping his cheek and giving his lips a kiss.

"I love the idea."

He opened a grin and pulled her along to where he'd already set a large sheet where the two of them could sit.

"I went to the kitchen and Ringo was very happy with helping me out," he pointed. "He made some great stuff."

She watched silently as he pulled things from inside the basket. Fruits like strawberries and cherries, grapes and red stuff in general, some bread, heart-shaped finger sandwiches, pastries and lots of chocolates. Everything seemed to be ready for the two of them to enjoy.

So they sat there, eating comfortably and talking about stupid stuff until the food was gone – mostly because of George, but Cassiopeia had had her fair share -and lied down on the blanket after cleaning it. Her boyfriend reached out for her hand when they were down, holding it and putting it over his chest as their fingers interlaced.

"Six months together," he muttered. "Wow. We survived that. It's unbelievable."

The blue-eyed teen chuckled, staring at the ceiling – it was filled with floating white clouds, something that her boyfriend had probably requested.

"I thought my dad would have found out at this point," she confessed.

"And here we are."

"Here we are," he sounded excited.

"Wait… Why did you say yes if you thought your father would figure things out?"

Cassiopeia shrugged.

"I couldn't think of not being with you," she muttered. "I had to try."

George turned to his side, and she turned her head, finding his face right in front of hers.

"Was it worth it?" he whispered. The girl couldn't find words, so she just nodded slowly. George watched her silently himself and reached with a hand to cup his girlfriend's cheek.

"Can I?" he whispered.

"Please."

His lips felt amazing on her, and she reached for his shoulder, pulling him a bit closer. She didn't have much time to spend with him – Draco would be looking for her soon and Eleanor wouldn't spend the whole day in her date –, so they had to enjoy the time they had.

"You wanna sit up?" he questioned, pulling away from her lips to speak. But Cassiopeia shook her head, blushing and smiling a very small smile.

"I'm okay if you are. Are you okay staying like this?"

George blushed, but only caressed her chin.

"Yeah. I'm okay."


	42. XLII

Cassiopeia tilted her head to the side, staring into the new educational decree.

'Any student found in possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled.', it read.

Merlin, this was getting more and more ridiculous by the minute.

"A magazine," she sighed out. "She's now afraid of a magazine?"

She had read it right in the morning before the 26th Decree had been nailed to the wall. But she could see why this was dangerous. While everyone was whispering about it, a small group of herself and other Slytherins had stayed in silence for the whole day. In his listing of Death Eaters, Potter had named Lucius and at least one member of the Goyle, Crabbe, Rosier and Nott families – in Eleanor's family, more than a single person.

The boys were furious with Potter's revelations – which were what they were. He wasn't lying at all -, but Cassiopeia and Eleanor were probably the only ones trying to process things rationally.

The blonde girl kept her head up, anyway. It wasn't like anyone could come to her asking questions, anyway, and the whispers around her and the Slytherins had to stop, eventually.

Umbridge next move was to remove Trelawney from her position, and the headmaster quickly replaced her with the Centaur Firenze – who displeased her even more than the first professor, honestly. His classes were certainly a lot more interesting than Trelawney's.

With all that happening, Potter was now teaching the D.A. group how to conjure a Patronus, and while everyone else was doing very well – George's Patronus was something canine-like, in the other hand, she was having a hard time producing one.

To produce a Patronus, the wizard or witch needed to conjure the best of their memories. The thing is, she couldn't bring herself to do so. All the stress in her mind and the things happening both to herself and her family were taking too much space and Cassiopeia couldn't remember a single moment that was happy enough to make it work.

It was one of D.A. nights and the blond girl was leaving when Draco showed up out of nowhere, seeming very excited over something and seeing her before she could produce a decent lie to tell him.

"Hey," her brother stopped in the middle of the common room. "Going somewhere?"

Cassiopeia took a second to answer. If she said yes, he'd be all over her in mere seconds to know where she'd go in such a time.

"No," the girl decided to lie. "Are you?"

Her brother frowned for a short moment but opened a grin.-

"We're gonna bust Potter and his friends," he sounded proud. "Wanna come along?"

She felt her heart racing and crossed her arms as if to hide its beating against her chest wall.

"I think I'm good here," Cass faked a grin. "I'll just study a bit more and go to bed."

He walked to his sister, kissed her on the cheek, and left.

Cassiopeia almost ran back to her dorm, trying to look calm when coming in, and searched around for a quill, taking her diary. She wrote down an emergency message to George, warning him about Umbridge, although she knew it wasn't enough.

"Cassiopeia?" she heard and turned her head to see that Eleanor had opened the curtains around her bed. "What are you doing over there?"

The teen froze, feeling her hands cold.

"I forgot one of my books in the library," she put herself on her feet. "I need it to study Potions. I'm gonna get it back."

Her friend stared at her sleepy, squinting in confusion.

"This late?"

"It's really important," Cassiopeia lied. "It has my notes on it, I'll be back soon."

She left quickly, still able to hear someone comment on how she was 'such a nerd', but she didn't care enough to answer. The girl ran to the seventh-floor as fast as she could, but everyone was already running when she got there, so she used her presence as a distraction and pointed empty corridors so the others could hide and leave. She looked for George, but he was nowhere to be found, and when Cassiopeia was ready to leave, someone calling her name made her stop.

Draco.

"Hey!"

He was holding Potter by his elbow, and no other than Umbridge was right behind him.

"What are you doing here?"

Potter's eyes dug into her, and Umbridge's gaze was heavy enough it was weighing on the older Malfoy's damn shoulders.

"Chasing Gryffindors around for not following the rules?" she tried to sound amused. "Sounds very fun."

Her brother's grin grew larger, and the dark-haired boy's eyes didn't move from her.

"Where are you taking Potter?" Cassiopeia questioned.

"The headmaster's office."

She nodded slowly.

"I'm guessing we got some big things against him and his friends."

Her brother grimaced for a moment and Cassiopeia tried not to visibly relax, knowing him well enough to predict the answer.

"Potter here will help us with that part," he decided. "Don't worry. Wanna come along?"

Cassiopeia opened a grin.

"Can I?" she questioned, then turned to Umbridge with her best hopeful eyes. "Ma'am?"

The woman only smiled.

"Of course, my darling. Come on."

The blue-eyed girl followed the trio silently and exchanged a look with Dumbledore when her brother shoved Potter inside the room.

"You two can go," he pointed at the siblings. "Thank you, Miss and Mister Malfoy."

Cassiopeia gave Potter another short look and took her brother's arm in hers.

"Come on, Draco."

"But..." he tried to protest.

"Come on," she interrupted him. "We don't beat dead dogs."


	43. XLIII

"Are you sure, dear?" Umbridge sipped on her pink teacup. "I'm sure we can use your good services in our Inquisitorial Squad."

"I'm sure, ma'am," Cassiopeia smiled politely. "I'm abstaining myself from any extracurricular activity this year so I can focus on getting Outstanding grades in every subject."

She just opened another one of those incredibly annoying smiled. Merlin, if Cassiopeia could only punch her right in the middle of that stupid face.

"I'm sure your parents must be proud of you."

Her parents. That was the big reason why Umbridge seemed to try to get that close to Cass so much. Her very influential parents.

"I hope they are, ma'am. Can I go now? I was hoping I could study a bit before my next class."

"Of course," she shooed the teen with one hand. "Go, I don't want to retain you for longer than necessary."

Cassiopeia left. Walking her way to the library, she felt a hand pulling her by the elbow just as she approached her favourite spot. The blonde pulled her wand out, ready to attack whoever it was, but relaxed when she realized it was just George.

"Where the hell have you been?" she questioned worried but was interrupted by a sudden kiss on the lips. "George!"

"Look, I don't have much time," her boyfriend interrupted her again before she could protest more. "I just wanted to see you one last time before you're done with school."

Cassiopeia frowned. Before she was done with school.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm leaving. Today," he opened a large grin.

She shook her head.

No. What?

"You can't!"

"I can!" he said back. "Look, if Dumbledore isn't here, there is no reason for me or Fred to be here. We won't learn any more than we already know in this place, and our future isn't in the intellectual area of work, she know that. We're gonna open our store, start our business. There is no reason to endure more months of this stupid frog lady."

Cassiopeia was shocked. She knew George and his twin didn't enjoy school very much, and with Umbridge there to make their lives a living hell, she couldn't blame them and shared the same dreadful feeling. But leaving?! Leaving was a huge decision.

"I'm not staying here with that woman as Headmistress," he pointed. "That's decided."

The girl nodded slowly.

"I can't go with you," she muttered. "I need to finish school."

To that, George cupped her cheek and smiled gently.

"I would never ask you to do such a thing. That's why we needed this goodbye."

He reached around her, pulling her close to his body and dipping the girl dramatically just as he gave her a very passionate kiss.

"I love you, Cassiopeia Black Malfoy."

The blonde girl opened a smile, making him mirror her and get her back on her feet.

"I always wanted to do that," he confessed, excited. "But I mean it. You don't have to say anything back. I just wanted you to know."

Cass reached out, taking his hand in her. Did she love George? Of course she did. But saying it aloud wasn't exactly easy.

"Be careful," she kissed his knuckles gently. "I won't be out there to protect you from jinxes."

He chuckled.

"Yes, ma'am."

The girl sighed out.

"I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too," George moved a hand and put a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. "Don't miss the show, okay?"

Cassiopeia frowned.

"What show?"

Her boyfriend chuckled and opened the largest and wickedest grin she had ever seen on his face – and she had seen many of them.

"You don't expect me to go without a show, right?"

* * *

Cassiopeia walking out of class at the end of the day when her eyes caught the shining fireworks, and someone yelled a watch out before she could take a step too close.

The corridor was starting to get crowded with students, and Umbridge was standing among them with her swollen face red from anger.

The floor of the corridor in front of them had turned into a swamp, which made the girl glad that someone had stopped her in the middle of the way before her shoes could get dirty.

"Accio Firebolts!"

In the middle of the crowd, in front of the headmistress, her boyfriend and his twin were standing with the most wicked of the smiles.

"And before we can leave," George ran in his girlfriend's direction, putting his hands around her waist and dipping her before kissing her lips very dramatically.

When he pulled away, she was left frozen with her hands and palms up, completely shocked. He mounted his broomstick and shot right up to his brother's side.

"Cassiopeia Malfoy!" he yelled from up there. "If you ever get tired of living around snakes, mail me. I've always had a crush on you!"

With that, they took flight, and left before her – or the students, for that matter - could even process the situation around.

It was Eleanor who first spoke after the noise went down.

"Okay, what in Melin's sake just happened here?"


	44. XLIV

Cassiopeia stretched her arms above her head, hearing her bones popping, just as she stood in front of the Great Hall. The girl was all done with the tests and felt like she had had a pretty good result. Without George around, things were boring and she felt very lonely, but it gave her lots of time to study and she couldn't deny it.

She was just on her way to the dungeons when Ginevra bumped onto her, very distressed and looking around to check if anyone had seen the two of them.

"We need your help right now. Come on."

Cassiopeia didn't think much, only following her to somewhere safe.

"What is it?" she enquired.

"You know who," she whispered in a fast pace. "We think he has Sirius, but we don't know yet so we need to try and communicate with him, but we need to get to Umbridge's fireplace without her knowing we're there."

The blonde girl frowned, a bit lost.

"I just finished the worst test period of my whole life," she pointed. "Can you please just say the resumed version?"

Her boyfriend's sister sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Sirius might be in danger and you need to distract Umbridge."

Finally, the blue-eyed teen nodded, running after her in the corridors just to find Umbridge in the turn of a corner. She hid behind a wall, fixing her hair for a moment and taking a breath before turning in her direction with the calmest face she could find.

"Ma'am," she tried to smile. "Good day."

Umbridge's eyebrows shot up for a short moment when her eyes fell on the lean girl's figure, but her expression quickly became pleased.

"Miss Malfoy," she smiled, stopping on the tracks. "Aren't you doing your tests?"

"I'm done with them," the Slytherin approached her. "I was wondering if we could talk a bit. I'm almost finished with schools and now that I've finished my NEWT's, we can spend some time together."

She smiled, looking quite happy with the idea.

"You never told me what you aim to do after school," she noticed.

"I was thinking of applying to work with Improper Use of Magic," she confessed. It wasn't a lie, that was one of her favourite options.

The woman's face changed in surprise.

"Oh, is that it?" she took her hand to her heart. "Oh, my dearest, I joined the Ministry straight out of school in that very department!"

The girl's blue eyes went wide. Merlin, out of all possibilities…

"I can find you a position as an intern as soon as you leave Hogwarts. I'll be talking to my colleagues when I get to my office. They'll love to hear that someone as intelligent and ambitious as you has her eyes on us."

Cassiopeia almost panicked. She couldn't get to her office, not now.

"But ma'am," the blonde teen jumped in front of the headmistress. "You can mail them any time. Hogwarts is so empty and silent with the tests happening, we can have such a pleasant and lovely conversation while walking to the gardens."

When Cassiopeia finished talking, something seemed to have clicked in Umbridge, and the woman turned to her.

"You must excuse me, Miss Malfoy, someone is in my office."

She ran after her, but it was of no help. The inquisitorial squad arrived just as fast as the short was walking, grabbing the members of Dumbledore's Army as they found them trying to fight or even speak. When Cassiopeia herself arrived at the room, her brother was already holding Potter and the members of the squad had everyone else in their grasps.

"It's good that you're here, Cassiopeia," Umbridge straightened her back. "You'll see what discipline is first hand."

Draco gave his sister a smile and the blue eyed girl could feel everyone's eyes glued to her in panic, begging for her to do something and help them, but she couldn't. In the current situation, unless she managed to get Umbridge out of the room for some reason, she couldn't do a thing.

The blonde girl looked around the room, however, trying to find something to distract the headmistress and at least one of the members of the Inquisitorial Squad. With another D.A. member free, she'd probably be able to take the woman down and free the others. Thinking didn't help a lot, though, and when Snape arrived, she calmed down a bit. He was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. He could help Sirius.

"He's got Padfoot!" Potter shouted, and the Slytherin girl slowly walked to her brother's side, close to the door.

Snape turned to the boy, and Cassiopeia reached her hand, snitching Potter's wand from Draco's robes and hiding it in hers before he could have a chance of catching her. Years of childish teasing had given the older sister quite an advantage over him when the situation asked for intense measures.

Granger was the one who broke down, and for a second Cas was as confused as everyone else in the room, but her words quickly made sense to the girl.

"It's ready," the bushy-haired girl stuttered, and Cassiopeia raised her wand, using it to slowly using it to retrieve the brunette's wand from the pocket of the other Slytherin girl in the room, who was holding her. Cas did it again and again and quickly had her own pocket filled with the wands the members of the squad had taken away.

"You, me and Potter are going there. Right now," the headmistress decided. "Cassiopeia, dearest," she called your name. "Do I trust you and the squad to the care of these rule breakers?"

You nodded.

"Of course, ma'am."

She walked past you with Potter in front of her and Granger by her side, and Cassiopeia used the situation to bump into the Gryffindor girl and put their wands in her pocket.

Once they were out, Draco grinned.

"We get to do whatever we want to you now."

His sister let out a sigh. The time was now.

"Draco," she called, and the boy turned to his sister. "I'm really sorry."

He frowned, his face filled with confusion.

"For what?"

"I really didn't want you to find about it this way."

Before he or anyone else could react, you pulled your wand right from your pocket.

"Stupefy!" you pointed at the girl holding Ginevra and the teen was sent to the other side of the room, giving her boyfriend's sister enough time to run to the teen and retrieve her own wand, fighting the rest of the group and freeing her friends from their grasps. Before Draco could react to his sister, she stunned him, and all five of the D.A. members locked the door behind themselves, leaving their wands outside.

"Hey," the redhead girl stopped his brother's girlfriend from running. "That was really smart."

"Thanks. I think before I jump."

She chuckled, but Cassiopeia couldn't mirror her. Her own brother was stunned, locked inside a room after she'd betrayed his trust. Her mood wasn't the best.

"Come on. We need to help Potter and Granger."


	45. XLV

The fact that she took flight on a Thestral – an animal she couldn't even see – was probably the weirdest part of Cassiopeia's day, but in the end, the girl had ended up not thinking much of it. According to Luna Lovegood, they could only be seen by those who had seen death and taken it as reality, something she'd never quite experienced in her life. Cassiopeia had never held onto something as hard as she did to the invisible animals. They were fast, flying over the castle and onto the country in a matter of minutes.

Their group landed in London, and even if the girl could hide it, her legs were showing the fear still in her veins. Merlin, she would never fly in those things again in her life. Never.

The teens squeezed themselves into a telephone box to get into the Ministry, holding their breaths to try and make everyone fit. Ronald pressed the numbers and Potter announced their intentions just for them to receive badges of identification with their names over 'Rescue Mission'.

They followed Potter silently. While he'd protested bringing the others in the journey to rescue Sirius, he hadn't dared to say a word about Cassiopeia going. She was part of Sirius' family, one of the few blood relatives he still had, and he respected that.

Inside the Department of Mysteries, things were as quiet as at the entrance of the Ministry. There wasn't a single living soul there. Maybe Potter was wrong. Maybe Sirius was safe.

They walked and walked, searching for anything that could help.

"Maybe he isn't here," Cassiopeia finally voiced her concerns, and Potter only glanced at her.

"He is here. I know he is."

"Harry," Ronald called, and all of the teens turned to him.

They were inside a room filled with shelves, and he had apparently taken time to snoop around.

"Come see this. It has your name on it."

The blonde girl watched in silence as he walked to his friend's side, finally identifying a glass orb. Once Potter grabbed it, however, a voice behind the group made all the hairs on Cassiopeia's body raise in an almost painful shiver.

"Very well, Potter. Now, turn around and give it to me."

The girl knew the shadows well enough to quickly recognize what was happening.

"Shit," she whispered under her breath.

The man behind her was wearing a mask, but if years of living with him didn't give her knowledge enough to recognize his voice, standing posture and even speech and breathing patterns, she'd be damned.

The Slytherin girl hadn't turned around completely, too scared to do so. Maybe the cat wasn't out of the bag yet. If she walked away very silently, he wouldn't recognize her and everything would be alright.

"To me, Potter," he repeated. "And Cassiopeia,"

The girl felt her legs shaking. However, she kept her face cold and blank and turned to stare at her father's direction.

"I want to know exactly what are you doing here with them."

She eyed the skinny figure behind him, recognizing her Aunt Bella, and held her wand tightly in her hand.

"I want to know where Sirius is," Potter said, completely ignorant to the very tense family moment between Lucius and his daughter.

"I want to know where Sirius is," her aunt mimicked in a childish way.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

The group of Death Eaters was so big that they could make a large circle around theirs if they wanted to.

"Give it to me, Potter," Lucius insisted. "Or we're going to start a real fight here."

"Start it, then."

With no choice, Cassiopeia raised her wand and her Aunt pulled her own wand out, uncovering her head. Her face couldn't be worse.

"I always knew you would be a weird one," Bellatrix noticed, looking at her niece's face. "Lucius, don't you ever discipline your daughter?"

Cassiopeia didn't need to see his face to know that her father's lips had twitched.

The girl felt Ginevra's hand on her wrist, taking her attention away from her father.

"Reducto," the redhead whispered. "Wait for the signal."

So Cassiopeia waited. Her father's eyes were moving from her to Potter and back while he talked to the boy, and his daughter felt like she was about to vomit. When Cas thought about confronting her parents, this wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

"Now!" Potter yelled.

Every single one of the teens bellowed the spell, cursing random sides of the room and watching and more and more prophecies became shattered glass onto the floor. The six of them ran and fought, throwing curses and protecting themselves.

Cassiopeia was just under a desk, trying not to have a panic attack and feeling blood pouring from somewhere in her body when the idea finally occurred to her.

Squeezing her wand tightly in her hand, she closed her eyes.

The blonde girl tried to remember everything good she'd ever had. Everything that had made her life change for the good. George's actions, the way he cared for her and made her feel like the only girl in the world.

'I love you, Cassiopeia Black Malfoy', were his words, so she repeated them in her mind. Again and again and again.

"Expecto Patronum."

The Siberian Husky emerging from the young Malfoy's wand was probably the most beautiful thing she had ever laid her bluish-grey eyes on. She sent it away to contact the order, to help and save all of them.

It was Mr Nott who found her and caught her after some fight. Honestly, Cassiopeia was hurt. She had been hit by more spells than she could count, she had fallen down and hit her head twice and could feel blood dripping from her forehead, soaking her blonde hair and pale face while he handed her over to her father.

"When we're done here, the two of us are going to sit and talk. No more trips, no more boyfriends, do you hear me?" he hissed. "I didn't give you limits when I was supposed to, I won't commit that mistake twice."

As soon as he was done speaking, the girl saw as figures appeared in front of them. Sirius, Lupin, Mad-Eye, Tonks, and Kingsley. Before her father could raise his wand, Tonks stunned him, and Potter's voice caught her.

"Go get Ron," he yelled, and Cassiopeia crawled to where she knew her boyfriend's brother was.

She couldn't, however, complete the path. She was hit in the middle of the way with something she couldn't even identify, banging her head against the floor for the third time.

This time, however, darkness came for her, and everything went black.


	46. Epilogue

Cassiopeia sat alone and silently in the cabin of the train. The last time Draco had been even close to her was when she was in the hospital wing, staying there overnight to make sure his sister was fine and leaving right when she opened her eyes.

Sirius was dead, her aunt had killed him, and her father had been arrested along with the other Death Eaters. Cassiopeia couldn't go home, but she also didn't have the Black Mansion to run to now. The girl, who had always had a steady path in life and a safe future assured in front of her, now had no single idea of what she was going to do or where she would go.

"Hey," she heard by the door and moved her eyes away from the window.

Standing outside of the cabin, Granger, Longbottom, Potter, Lovegood and the two youngest Weasleys were standing silently, having just changed from their uniforms to daily clothings.

"Can we sit with you?" Lovegood questioned.

The blue-eyed girl was surprised for a moment, but nodded, untwining her hands over her long crossed legs and trying not to look defensive.

Potter closed the door behind them before sitting down after everyone else. They stared at each other's eyes silently, the tense quietness filling the small place.

"You look well," Granger tried to sound sweet.

"Thank you," the blonde teen responded, trying her best not to sound stiff. "Madam Pomfrey is very good at preventing scars. I look good as new."

She only nodded and it went back to the uncomfortable silence from before, but they all raised some conversation a while later. They tried to include the Slytherin girl, but managed to get only a few words out of her lips.

"How are you spending your summer?" Lovegood questioned looking at her, and the Malfoy girl shifted on her spot a bit.

"I'm not sure," Cassiopeia looked at her. "I…"

She hesitated before answering, taking a painful breath.

"I truly have no idea yet."

Something seemed to click on Granger as she looked at Cassiopeia, frowning and an expression she couldn't quite recognise.

"Cassiopeia," she said her name slowly, almost testing it on her tongue. "You do have where to go, right?"

The blonde young woman forced a smile on her face, not even hesitating in lying to make sure she still looked strong and calm in their eyes. She wouldn't let them of all people think that she was lost. It's not that she had no trust on them – risking her life next to someone does wonders to a relationship – but everything has a limit.

"Of course I do," the Malfoy girl lied. "You don't think I'd risk everything without a plan b, do you?"

Ginerva turned to her brother's girlfriend, clearly believing in her lie.

"You think before you jump," she repeated what she'd said to her the other day.

The blonde nodded.

"Exactly, Ginerva."

The girl in front of her grimaced.

"You're my brother's girlfriend," she reminded her. "You should just call me Ginny."

Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows in surprise but soon recovered her posture.

"Sure," she agreed. " _Ginny_."

…

Cassiopeia waited for everyone to leave the train before doing so, but that didn't help much as the students were mostly all over the platform when she stepped out.

"Cas!" she heard her name, and only had the time to turn around before George had his arms around her body and his lips over hers right after.

Everyone stopped to watch the two, but for the first time, Cassiopeia didn't care. He was her boyfriend and no one had anything to do with that, and besides, her father wasn't there anymore to scare her.

"I missed you so much," he exclaimed when the two pulled away to catch their breaths.

"I missed you too," the girl said in a soft voice, holding his hands.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind her made her freeze. It wasn't a random someone, it's was no other than her mother.

Cassiopeia turned in silence, shielding her boyfriend with her body. She was ready for any reaction of hers, except the one that she actually had. Narcissa looked at her daughter deep in her greyish-blue eyes and put a chest right between the two of them on the floor.

"Goodbye," those were the only words her mother said before turning around and leaving with Draco.

There was no trying to coach her daughter home with her, or any questioning; she just left and didn't even look back while Cassiopeia couldn't tear her eyes from where she'd gone with her brother. Had she just been… disowned from her family? Why hadn't she said a word besides _goodbye_?

"Come on," George took the chest, ignoring how everyone's eyes were on the two of them. "Let's get out of here."

Cassiopeia followed him out of the platform and she felt her cheeks hot and red when her boyfriend's mother engulfed her body in a hug.

"Cassiopeia!" she exclaimed. "It's been so long! Look at you, you're taller than I remember. You're invited to dinner with us, I won't take no for an answer."

The Slytherin girl almost froze in her spot, confused with the rapid words she was firing in the teen's direction. And she realized she didn't have much of a choice when George wrapped his arm around her waist and apparated into the Burrow.

Cas's mind, however, was still with her mother. Why hadn't she said anything? What was in the chest she had given her? What had her father told her?

"Come on," George pulled his girlfriend along with him to his room. "I need to show you our stocks. The store is opening next week and we need to teach you the basics before starting."

Cas nodded, almost dismissively, as he continued to talk.

"We've put you in charge of the potions, because, let's be honest, you're the best potion-maker we've ever met, and we know a lot of people."

The blonde opened a small smile, flattered, as he opened the door to the room to her. There, writing something down on a paper, was Fred.

"'Sup, Cas?" he smiled. "Hey, are you good with money?"

She shrugged.

"I don't really know. I never had a problem with it."

 _Well, not before now,_ she reminded herself.

The twins exchanged looks and shrugged.

"Okay, sit down," George instructed. "Let's go through this."

The three of them sat down through the details of the "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes" store, from products to creating to the restocking system. By the time Mrs. Weasley had called them for dinner, things were settled and the blonde young woman felt prepared for her first job.

She was just leaving the room when her boyfriend held her by the elbow.

"Hey…" he took a breath. "You… You got a plan, right?"

Cassiopeia shifted on her feet.

"Because if you don't, you can crash here," he offered. "We have a bed where you can sleep and it's gonna be just like your last birthday, but for a bit longer."

She gave her boyfriend a small smile.

"I told you, I'm going to be okay," she lied.

She had crafted a plan but it wasn't the best one. She'd get herself a room in the Leaky Cauldron, paying for it with the money she had in hands since Hogwarts, sell what she could to keep herself there, and pay for the inn with her salary from the store. It wouldn't be a big life and Cas would need to keep an eye on her spendings, but that's okay. She'd be fine, right?

George reached out and cupped his girlfriend's face.

"You promised not to lie to me, remember?" he whispered.

Her cheeks warmed up, but she tried to play it cool.

"Since when do you know when I'm lying or not?"

He shrugged.

"I don't, not much," he confessed. "But I know how you look when you're scared, and that exactly what I see in your eyes right now."

Cassiopeia bit her lip.

"I have a plan, George," she insisted. "Not the best plan, but one that will work."

He sighed but kissed her lips softly.

"Alright, then. I trust you," he caressed her skin. "Come on, let's go down."

She followed him downstairs in silence, holding his hand and trying to keep a neutral face while walking down. However, she stopped on her tracks, surprised when her eyes caught the sight of Mrs. Weasley talking to a very familiar pink-haired lady.

"Tonks," she settled beside them. "Hey, I didn't know you were coming for dinner too."

It was good to see her cousin. The last time the two had been in the same place was during the battle where she had hit her head, but Cassiopeia and her had exchanged several letters since then.

"Tonks here was just telling me that she came to pick you up," Molly explained, and the young girl furrowed her eyebrows in response.

"Pick me up?"

Her cousin opened a grin that was a mixture of wicked and amused.

"Kiddo, you're coming to live with me."


End file.
